


quiet my fears with the touch of your hand

by g0ldenfolklore



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, One Direction (Band)
Genre: Action, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Beauxbatons, Crime Fighting, Curses, Domestic Fluff, Enemies, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gryffindor vs. Slytherin Rivalry, Gryffindor!Louis, Harry Styles & Louis Tomlinson Hate Each Other, Hate to Love, Hogwarts, Hogwarts Inter-House Rivalries, House Elves, Kitten, M/M, Metamorphmagus, Minor Character Death, Miscommunication, Mystery, Original Teachers - Freeform, Post-Second War with Voldemort, Slytherin!Harry, Suspense, Tragedy, WIP, Weird Plot Shit, Werewolves, a WHOLE lot of fluff, bonded, they live together
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-16 21:47:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 24,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29214405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/g0ldenfolklore/pseuds/g0ldenfolklore
Summary: Transferring from Beauxbatons to Hogwarts in his sixth year, Louis was dreading going through the whole process of being the new student.What he’d least expected upon arriving at Hogwarts was to have incredible new friends, the best school experience, getting into a battle, solving a mystery surrounding Voldemort long after he was gone and to create such strong bonds.But what he expected least of all was to have such a strong bond with one Mr. Styles.or the Larry Hogwarts AU where Louis and Harry get curse-Bonded together and are forced to be in close proximity at all times.
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan/Original Female Character(s), Zayn Malik/Liam Payne
Comments: 49
Kudos: 94





	1. Boarding the Hogwarts Express

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters or the HP Universe. I do not own One Direction. All copyrights go to their rightful owners. However, this story and plot is entirely my own. 
> 
> This is a work of pure fiction and I'm trying to make this as accurate to the HP Universe as I possibly can. Changes surrounding characters, the HP Universe and character personalities are made to make the story flow smoothly.  
> This fic has not been britpicked hence all mistakes are all my own. It is my first time writing fanfiction so please let me know if I’ve made any errors. 
> 
> Also, minor disclaimer: I do not in any way support, promote and agree with JK Rowling’s transphobic and bigoted comments. Trans Rights are Human Rights. 
> 
> I will try my best to write this in a way that readers who have not been exposed to the Harry Potter series can still comprehend and enjoy. You can ask me any questions you have or give your suggestion on my twitter - @g0ldenfolklore.
> 
> Title from the song - Death By A Thousand Cuts by Taylor Swift.

Stepping through the barrier and onto platform Nine and Three-Quarters, Louis was surprised to see a scene of absolute chaos ahead of him. A huge scarlet steam train was billowing smoke as it stood still on its tracks. Students were lugging their heavy trunks along as their pet owls hooted in their cages. There was a noise of hushed conversations between families saying their goodbyes to their young witches and wizards for the term. Cats were running alongside the students while they rushed to meet up with their friends. Steam from the scarlet engine flooded the platform and Louis noticed that the platform had a specific smell - one that lifted his spirits and made him feel that his transfer to Hogwarts would not be too hard on him.

Louis weaved through the crowds of people while dragging along his luggage as he made his way to the Hogwarts Express. He was carrying a black trunk and an owl cage which held his owl - Kiwi. It was an unusual name for an owl, but Louis thought it fit the tiny owl perfectly. Kiwi was a miniature scops-owl with white and grey feathers. Louis thought that he reassembled a fluffy Snitch. As he got onto the train, he couldn’t help but feel a little forlorn. He didn’t have any friends or acquaintances and it seemed like most of the compartments were filled with people that Louis thought had been friends forever.

After looking for a slightly empty compartment, he found one with just two blokes inside. He decided to take his chances instead of looking for a completely empty one and not finding a seat at all.

“They actually know what that mea-,” cut short one of the two boys in the compartment, when he saw Louis open the door to the apartment. The boy who was talking looked like he was well built and someone who exercised every day. He seemed like he played the position of Chaser on his Quidditch team. He had short hair and chocolate-coloured eyes. He looked like a soft person who could also beat you up if you crossed him. The two boys also had owl cages sitting beside them with owls inside of them. One of the owls was grey and the other owl was a snowy white owl.

As nervous as he was about being new and not knowing anybody, Louis was determined to make friends and have the best time he could at his new school. “Hi,” he began confidently. “Is it alright if I, uh sit here?” he pointed at the seat where a boy with brunette hair and blue eyes was sitting. “Of course, mate. I’m Niall and this is Liam,” said the boy with blue eyes as he pointed to himself and ‘Liam’ who looked like he’d been interrupted while telling an interesting story. Niall had a thick accent, but Louis couldn’t put a finger on where he thought Niall was from. It could be Scotland or Ireland, Louis thought. Niall had a smaller build. Like that of a Seeker. He had a joyful vibe to him. He seemed like the person who always had ample of energy to do anything.

“I’m Louis. It’s nice to meet you both,” Louis said as he put his trunk into the compartment overhead. “You too, Louis,” said Liam while grinning. He seemed genuine and kind. Louis sat down next to Niall. Niall looked him up with peaked interest. “The pleasures all ours,” he said and paused. A beat of silence passed, and Louis began to think that this was going to be the most awkward train ride of his life. Not that he’d been on many trains, mind you. But it looked like Niall and Liam were best friends and Louis was just interfering. But before Louis could spiral Niall began, “What year are you in? Fifth? I don’t think I’ve seen you around before, actually.”

Louis smiled. He knew everyone was going to ask him this question and he had to get used to it. “I’m in sixth year. What about you guys?”

Liam and Niall had instant reactions to this. Liam looked confused and Niall looked like he’d heard something bizarre. “But-” began Niall. “We’re in sixth year and we’ve never seen you, mate. We’ve had classes with all houses so far and we couldn’t have just forgo-” but Louis cut Liam off before he could finish saying everything he had to.

“I’ve actually just transferred from Beauxbatons.”

A look of comprehension dawned on Niall’s face, but Liam looked even more confused than before.

“Beauxbatons?” he questioned, looking between Niall and Louis.

“It’s a French magic school in the southern part of France,” Niall said quickly to Liam and then turned to Louis. Louis quickly picked up that Liam was muggleborn.

“No wonder.”

“What do you mean?” confused, Louis replied with a questioning look.

“Just you know, the way you’ve dressed and your facial features and summat.”

“Well, my mom’s British and my dad’s French.”

“So how come you had to switch schools?” Liam asked, catching up to the conversation.

“Well, my family lived in France since I was born. My dad had a job there. He’s a marketing manager in a huge firm,” he paused. Louis gathered that Niall was a pureblood kid from his expression. “It’s a muggle job,” he said as an explanation to Niall who nodded in comprehension. “But he was getting transferred to London, so I had to shift schools. It was quite stressful, actually. Had to do a lot more preparation than I imagined.”

“How come?” Liam questioned. “I mean, other than the usual shifting stuff.”

“At Beauxbatons we sit our Ordinary Wizarding Levels – O.W.L’s in sixth year instead of fifth year like you do at Hogwarts. So, when I got the news we were shifting, I sent a letter to the headmistress - Professor McGonagall. She said I’d have to sit the exam at Beauxbatons in my fifth year instead of sixth. So, I just had like six months to do 2 years’ worth of studying!” Louis rambled on.

Liam looked nervous. “Well, did you pass?”

“Of course he did, doofus. Why would he be here if he hadn’t?” said Niall while smacking Liam on the head with the Daily Prophet.

Louis chuckled and said, “I thankfully did pass. I got 9 O.W.L’s.”

Niall and Liam’s eyes bulged at that and their mouths feel open. “Merlin’s beard, mate!? Nine?! That’s too many. We both got 7 each,” said Niall. “He’s probably like a Ravenclaw,” he said to Liam.

“Speaking of which, do you know which house you’re sorted in?”

“In Beauxbatons I was in Bellefeuille,” Louis said with a mock French accent. Liam and Niall giggled.

“I don’t know what the Hogwarts equivalent is though. Prof. McGonagall said that they were going to sort me into a house right after the feast.”

“Well, that’s brilliant. I hope you’re in Gryffin-” and Liam was cut off once again by the compartment door opening.

A tall but lanky looking boy with pale skin and curly brown hair stood at the door. His curls were halfway down his neck. Louis thought he’d never seen anyone look more like a prince before. Standing close behind him was another tall boy but with short black hair and thick eyebrows and piercing eyes. The curly haired one’s eyes lingered on Louis for a moment and then shifted to Niall and Liam. “Ugh,” the curly haired lad made a disgusted face and shut the rickety old door with a slam. Louis could hear the two blokes stomping away to look for another compartment. Confused, Louis looked at his new friends for an explanation.

“That’s Harry Styles and Zayn Malik. Styles is the curly haired one and Malik’s the uhm, the other one,” said Liam with a slight blush on his face. Niall rolled his eyes and continued with an explanation for their behaviour, “They’re both Slytherins. It’s just common house rivalry but those two are actually very silent most of the times. They do pass snide comments from time to time though. They keep to themselves for the most part, so we just stay away.” 

Louis got the feeling that Niall and Liam were underestimating what they were telling Louis to not scare him. He thought that if Niall and Liam didn’t like those two blokes, there must be a good reason.

“Well, I have to go do my duty,” Liam said while getting up. He tapped on his Prefect badge on his chest as an explanation. “I’ll send Leah and Claire along.”

“See you later?” Louis asked.

Liam nodded and waved to them. Niall got up and sat on the opposite side of the compartment.

“You’re gonna love Leah and Claire. They’re really good friends of Liam and I,” Niall said.

***

A three-hour train ride later, Louis had made four new friends. Liam and Niall were very welcoming and helpful as far as Louis could tell. Niall explained that Liam was an intelligent student who rarely got caught breaking rules. Rarely being the key word because Niall brought him along on all his adventures around the premises of the school but managed to not let Liam get caught as much as Niall did. Leah and Claire joined them when Liam left to do his Prefect duties and patrol the train along with the other Prefects.  
Niall introduced Louis to Leah first, who he instantly took a liking to. Leah was a muggleborn whose parents had full time jobs in Leicester. Louis noticed that Leah was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She stood as tall as Louis, which wasn’t very tall at all. She wore a yellow sundress that she paired with slightly high heeled brown boots. She had shoulder length bleached blonde hair and light blue, monolid eyes that sparkled with playful humour. She has focused attention on everything said in a conversation. She came across as someone who remembered every single detail of even the most trivial things. She was naturally bubbly and spoke a great deal about her girlfriend - Florence.

After an hour or so of them bickering over the best kind of foods in the wizarding world, Claire popped up to say hello to them. Claire was quite short; she was dressed in high rise jeans and a white band tee that was tucked in. She wore a dragon leather belt and had a badly knitted sweater on. She held a tiny kitten in her arms who she introduced as ‘Luya.’ She would bend her head every couple of minutes to make sure the little kitten was alright and had not run away. Claire’s light brown curly hair framed her face, her amber coloured eyes with tinges of brown added to her personality and she spoke with a lot of thought. She wasn’t one to speak a lot, but Louis got the feeling that she was quite smart. He noticed that she did say some bizarre things that he couldn’t make much sense of. But he just smiled and nodded because he did not want to seem rude or give off the wrong vibes.

After the train came to a halt, the group got dressed in their robes. While the rest wore their black robes with their house specific ties, Louis wore his plain black robes wondering if he would get sorted into the same house as his new friend group. Not voicing any of his concerns, he secretly wished that he did. As they got off the train and dragged their luggage along with them, Niall nudged him with his elbow. “That’s the Hogwarts gamekeeper and teacher, Hagrid. He’s more of a friend than a teacher to me and Liam,” Niall shouted over all the excited chatter of the students while pointing to a half giant standing twice as tall as an average human and as wide as four humans.

Louis had read about Hogwarts before coming along and had a fair idea that Hogwarts was diverse and had all sorts of teachers and caretakers. He thought that it was brilliant and welcoming. He watched as Hagrid, the half giant, ushered what Louis assumed were the first years towards the lake in the near distance. He waved his huge dustbin lid sized palms towards the lake while the first years looked up in awe at how large Hagrid was.

“Those are the first years; Hagrid takes them to the castle in boats, so they get a full view of how Hogwarts looks from the outside. He’ll show you on a free afternoon if I insist, don’t worry. I’ll make sure you don’t miss out on anything,” Liam said coming up to stand next to Louis. Louis smiled till his eyes at the thought of that. School had not even started, and he’d already met some of the kindest people he’d had the privilege of being friends with. “Thank you,” Louis said, tearing up a little bit. Sensing his tone, Liam looked up and continued, “We walk to those carriages over there. And they’ll take us to the castle.” Liam and Niall guided louis to the carriages. They loaded their luggage in and sat at their seats with Leah and Claire.

“This is Hogsmeade station, Louis. Not too far from here is the entrance to Hogwarts,” said Leah as they passed a rundown building. Louis had heard from his mother that this was where the conductor of the Hogwarts Express lived.

“I’m really excited to find out what house you go in. I’ve already got my hopes up too high,” said Leah with a sigh.

“I think he’d be in Ravenclaw. He’s smart and really hardworking too, don’t you think?” Niall insisted as he looked over at Claire and Liam.

“I actually think he might get into Gryffindor. Maybe that’s just wishful thinking on my part because it’d be fun to have another friend in our group of idiots.”

“I actually think he’d be in Hufflepuff,” a shy voice uttered. “He’s quite a lot like badger though, don’t you think?”

Niall snorted at that and Liam smiled kindly at Claire. Leah just simply looked at Claire with an admiring face.

The carriage made a turn to the right and the massive entrance gates of Hogwarts came into view. The gates were located in a clearing of the dark forest that led up to the school grounds. The black carriages had camouflaged with the dark starry night, but the yellow headlamps attached to the front allowed Louis to see his friends clearly. Up ahead were a row of carriages illuminated with the same headlamps along with the background of the enormous castle sitting in the midst of huge rocks. Under and next to those huge rocks was the enormous lake. The lake known as the Black Lake or the Great Lake sat still in the dark with a most haunting silence. The castle looked over the extensive school grounds surrounding it. There was a large dense forest, known as the Forbidden Forest, that seemed the most daunting. There were sloping lawns of green grass, flowerbeds, vegetable patches growing what looked like tomatoes, cabbages, carrots, and huge pumpkins. There were several greenhouses, that Louis had heard of from his mum. Though not visible in the night he could see their outlines. A full sized Quidditch pitch with stands surrounding it stood near the castle.

They passed the entrance gate, and the carriages came to a halt. Claire shuffled with her luggage and put Luya into the cat cage that she had carried along with her. She set the cage on top of her trunk and hopped off the carriage after Niall and Liam. Feeling slightly confused, he looked over at Leah who quickly understood what the problem was.  
“The trunks and the other luggage will be taken up to the dorms while we’re at the feast. The owls will be at the owlery. The other pets that need to be looked after will be taken up to the dorms where the students are. So, don’t worry about it, your luggage will be ready for you when you get to see your dorm,” said Leah with a quick wink.

“Alright,” Louis turned and crouched in front of Kiwi’s cage. “They’re gonna take you up to the owlery, okay? You better behave. And I’ll come up there to see you whenever I can, alright?” Kiwi hooted excitedly at the thought of being able to make use of her wings. Louis smiled and hopped off the carriage. He followed the rest of his group into the entrance to the castle. He quickly looked up at the enormous structure ahead of him.

Louis had read that the three highest towers were the Ravenclaw Tower, Gryffindor Tower and the Astronomy Tower. He was in complete awe as he jogged a little to be with his friends. They walked through the Entrance Hall and Claire led them all into the Great Hall, which was located just off the Entrance Hall. Louis stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of the Great Hall. It was a large hall with four long tables where students of different houses had sat themselves. Every table had a specific house and that was where the students sat. On the extreme right was the Gryffindor table. Next to it was the Hufflepuff table, followed by the Ravenclaw table and the Slytherin table to the extreme left. At the front of the hall was a long diagonal table on a higher platform where the teachers sat in a row. In the centre of the table there was a throne like chair where the headmistress would be seated.

Louis quietly followed his friends to the Gryffindor table since he had not been given instructions about where he should be seated for the feast. Only when he sat, did he notice the empty golden platter and utensils on the long table. His stomach grumbled at the thought of food. He looked up to see hundreds of illuminated candles floating in the air above him which made sure the massive hall was filled with light. Up above he saw not the ceiling of the hall but the starry night he’d seen just outside while in the carriage.

“It’s enchanted to look like the actual sky outside,” said Claire helpfully. She sat beside him on his right while Niall sat on his left. “They built the castle back up quite brilliantly after the Second Wizarding War,” Niall pointed out. Louis nodded his acknowledgment and looked up at the table where the teachers sat. He spotted Hagrid instantly as he sat on two chairs surrounded by serious looking teachers. A tall, stern looking witch with her black and grey hair pulled in a tight bun came to stand in front of the podium. She wore emerald green robes and had a very stern face. Louis knew immediately that this was not someone he should be messing with.

Louis heard the drone of hundred voices come to a stop when Professor McGonagall started speaking in the conjured microphone.

“Welcome, welcome to another year at Hogwarts! It is wonderful to see you all again and I am quite sure your teachers feel the same way. Before we start on our feast let us quickly begin with the Sorting Ceremony please.”

With a gulp Louis took in the sight of the terrified first years lined up to sit on a stool at the front of the hall. On top of the stool though, sat a battered old hat. It was patched, frayed and quite dirty. As louis stared at the hat, a tear opened up along the brim of the hat and to Louis’ surprise it began singing. It sang about the history of Hogwarts and its four founders, how their rivalry got too much, and how it tore them apart. The hat continued on about the Second Wizarding War and how the war had affected Hogwarts and the Hat. The hat continued its story by asserting that Hogwarts and the Hat were still standing because of the brave people who fought in the war against Voldemort. When it stopped singing, a kind looking teacher announced the names of the first years alphabetically to come forward and put the hat on. The Sorting Ceremony was quite different at Beauxbatons but was more interesting at Hogwarts. The Sorting hat would yell the result and the selected house would cheer as the new student went and sat at their respective house’s table. Louis clapped along with the rest of the students when a first year would join the Gryffindor table. Out of all the first years, there were two hat stalls where the hat took about 2 or 5 minutes to make up its mind. Louis was nervous to know the result of his sorting. He knew that the other houses were brilliant as well, but he had already set his heart on Gryffindor. Louis looked over at the Slytherin table and found the curly haired lad from before staring at him. The moment they made eye contact, Louis looked away and focused on the headmistress. After the last of the first years were sorted, the headmistress - Prof. McGonagall announced that it was time for the feast to begin.

The moment Professor McGonagall pronounced the last ‘n’ the food magically appeared on the table in front of Louis. As if he couldn’t be even more surprised, he saw a huge arrangement of roast chicken, sausages, bacon, steak, roast beef, pork chops, lamb chops, mashed potatoes, peas, carrots, broccoli, boiled potatoes, roasted potatoes, gravy and so much more than Louis had ever imagined. The food at Beauxbatons was all pre-planned and there were about two different options every night. Louis loaded some of everything just like Liam and started eating. Everyone ate in silence for the first couple of minutes. Once everyone’s hunger was somewhat satisfied, the excited chatter amongst the students began once again. Louis noticed that Claire helped herself to a huge portion of broccoli and little of everything else, but he thought best not to comment on it.

Louis caught a lot of people staring at him and making puzzled faces. Some of the people who realised that he was new and much older would gossip animatedly behind their hands with their friends while staring at him. Most of the times, Niall explained the situation to the people sitting with them at the Gryffindor table or even the House ghosts that were surprised to see a new face. Niall made clear to Louis that soon the word would get around and nobody would bother asking him the same questions. Louis was grateful for Niall. Soon the feast disappeared when the chatter got loud, and the food was replaced with a great deal of desserts. There were blocks of assorted ice cream, apple pies, spotted dick, chocolate gateau, treacle tart, pumpkin tart on one side. While on the other side there were chocolate éclairs & jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, jelly, and rice pudding. Louis picked one of chocolate eclairs and some vanilla flavoured ice cream along with it. After having eaten so much, Louis felt quite bloated and tired. He knew that the moment he hit the bed he would fall asleep. After everyone was done eating dessert, Professor McGonagall got up again and addressed the students.

“Just a couple more words now that we’re all fed and watered. Mr. Filch, our caretaker, would like me to remind you that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. Quidditch team trials will be held on the first weekend of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact their respective team captains. Now, it is time for bed. Off you trot!” Immediately there was a shuffle of several people getting up. Liam got up and quickly said, “I’ll see you up at the dorm, Niall. Good luck, Louis! See you tomorrow, girls.”

He walked off towards the first years and Louis could hear him calling the first years towards him and the other house Prefect.

“I’ll have to wait back,” Louis explained to Niall and the girls. They nodded and agreed that they would wait outside the hall to help him get to wherever he needed. Louis walked over to where Professor McGonagall stood with the Sorting Hat. Upon noticing him, she immediately drew herself to her tallest height. “Ah, you must be Mr. Louis Tomlinson.”

“Yes, professor.”

“We have to get you sorted into a house before you could head to your dorm. I thought it would be rather demeaning to have you sorted with the rest of the first years.”

“Yes,” Louis chuckled nervously.

“Indeed,” said Professor McGonagall curtly as she eyed him. “Now, kindly sit on the stool please.”

Louis immediately sat down on the rickety stool as gently as possible.

“Ready, Mr. Tomlinson?”

“Yes, professor.”

Prof. McGonagall put down the hat on Louis’ head and Louis could instantly hear the Sorting Hat talk about him.

“Mmm, right then. Difficult, very difficult...plenty of courage I see. An abundant thirst for knowledge. There isn’t a lack of talent either, oh yes, and a curiosity for research and investigation. There’s a challenge in Ravenclaw, but lots of courage and bravery and a thirst to protect people.. lots of potential in Gryffindor too,” the Sorting Hat droned on in a low voice, like something of an old man’s.

“What to do, what to do, it’s all here in your head.”

“I’d prefer Gryffindor, my mum was in Gryffindor too,” Louis thought keeping his mother in mind. She had been excited for him to go to Hogwarts just like she had been when she was younger.

Almost as if he had heard Louis’ thought, the Sorting Hat instantly said “Ah, Gryffindor? There’s a path to greatness in Ravenclaw.. harder to achieve success in Gryffindor.. you could do well with all that thirst to protect people..”

“GRYFFINDOR,” the Hat screeched at the top of its lungs and Louis heard a low cheer coming from the back of the hall. He opened his eyes that he had not realised he’d shut at all in the first place and saw Niall, Leah and Claire clapping and hooting for him. Professor McGonagall smiled at him warmly, a genuine smile that Louis was surprised to see coming from the stern headmistress.

“Welcome to Gryffindor, Mr. Tomlinson. Best of my wishes to you. I gather you already know how houses work,” Professor McGonagall said nodding to herself.  
“Thank you, professor” Louis whispered quietly.

“I see you’ve already made some friends from your house,” looking over at Niall, Leah, and Claire.

“As it so happens, Mr. Tomlinson, there is an open spot left in Mr. Niall Horan’s dorm. Mr. Abbot, the previous student, did not succeed on getting his 5 OWL’s last year so he will be re-doing them and staying back in fifth year. We have accommodated him along with the other fifth years. If you so wish, you could choose the same dorm as Mr. Horan or I shall accommodate you elsewhere.”

Professor McGonagall’s blue eyes bore into his, searching for something.

“I- I’d like the dorm with Niall, please professor.”

“Very well. I assume you will no longer need my assistance as Mr. Horan will help you up to the dorm?”

“Yes, professor.”

“We will discuss your subjects for the year tomorrow. Get some sleep till then. Goodnight, Mr. Tomlinson.”

“Yes. Goodnight, professor,” Louis said and turned and walked over to where his friends were patiently waiting for him.

“You made it to Gryffindor!” Niall said while giving Louis a high five. “And I’m in your dorm, too!” Louis said excitedly as he continued to give Claire and Leah high fives as well.  
“We’re gonna have so much fun together, I can already tell.” Leah gave him a quick wink and Louis was pretty sure that meant that they were going to make some trouble and he was definitely up for that. Louis was basically known as a prankster at Beauxbatons.

Feeling dazed and giddily happy, he followed his friends as they climbed various stairs and took sudden turns which Louis thought was quite confusing. He was sure that he would get lost if he attempted to go anywhere by himself. He vowed to remember not to do that until he had the hang of the castle.

After quite a lot of walking and climbing, Louis finally asked how much longer it was until they reached.

“This is the sixth floor of the Gryffindor Tower so just another floor, the Common Room’s on the seventh floor,” supplied Claire helpfully.

Louis concluded that they had reached as his friends came to a halt in front of a portrait of a lady. “Well, aren’t you late?” spoke the lady in a condescending voice. She was quite healthy and had her hair tied up. She wore a beautiful gold gown and held an empty champagne glass in her left hand.

“Would you like me to sing for you?” she asked hopefully. With a shudder Niall quickly said, “Not today actually. We’ve got to show Louis his dorm. The password’s ‘Flavo Flores.’ Remember that, Louis, otherwise you’ll be stuck waiting outside for another student to come along and say the password. Alright?”

“Flavo Flores. Got it.” Louis said confidently. He could obviously remember that. And he was pretty sure it meant some type of flowers in Latin. The portrait popped open and all four of them went in through the round hole and into the passage.

Louis noticed a round circular room brightly decorated with several shades of red and gold come into view. There were plenty of squashy armchairs, tables, and a bulletin board at the side with many posters, school notices and ads put up on it. A large fireplace dominated one wall. The mantel of the fireplace has a detailed sculpture of a lion on it. The other walls were decorated with scarlet tapestries depicting various witches and wizards and numerous animals. There was an enormous bookcase to one side filled with countless novels. Louis could not wait to get his hands on one of those. There were large windows that overlooked the school grounds, but Louis could only see the starry night outside which reminded him how tired he was.

Yawning, he looked over at Niall who looked just as tired as Louis felt. Niall waved at some people across the common room, then glanced at Louis and asked, “Is it alright if we explore tomorrow and just go straight to bed, mate?”

“Oh yes please, I was literally thinking the same thing.”

“Alright, Tommo. Follow me.”

Louis smiled at the new nickname and followed along. Leah and Claire bid them goodnight as they climbed up the stairs to the girl’s dormitories. On the opposite side, Niall and Louis climbed up the stairs to the boy’s dormitories. He followed Niall to the sixth-year dormitories, and they took a left on the third door. He opened the door to the dorms and let Louis inside. Louis saw Liam and two other boys.

“You got into Gryffindor!” Liam exclaimed and got up excitedly and gave Louis a half hug. “I’m so pumped and you’re in our dorm too.” Liam was smiling broadly, and Louis couldn’t help but feel that he was going to have the best time at Hogwarts with his new friends. Liam then introduced him to the other two boys - Caleb and Jarvis. They were around the same height as Niall and were already in their pyjamas. Caleb had black braided hair and he wore midnight blue pyjamas with Snitches on them. He was very tall, slim and his skin was rich black with slight pink undertones. He waved at Louis sleepily and told him that he would introduce himself properly tomorrow. Jarvis sitting on the four-poster bed next to Caleb agreed and greeted Louis as well. Jarvis had extremely curly hair that were quite short. He was in his black pyjamas that had patterned lions on them. He smiled sleepily at Louis and showed off his dimples. He wore round glasses that he then took off and set on his bedside table. Louis told them that he was extremely tired too and that they would speak the next day.

Louis moved over to his four-poster bed that was covered in red eiderdowns with red curtains. Next to his bed stood a small wooden nightstand with a small lamp. His trunk was placed at the foot of his bed along with Kiwi’s owl cage. He opened his trunk and pulled out his green pyjamas that had little elves on them. He closed his curtains and quickly changed into his pyjamas and then got into his bed. It was relatively warm and quite comfortable and soft. He knew it would be hard to wake up in the morning. He peeked through the curtains at the wooden dresser next to his bed, an owl perch next to it and chairs that surround the book table in the middle of the dorm. The dorm was bigger than Louis would have ever imagined, especially from the outside. It was incredibly spacious and had five windows overlooking the grounds, covered with the red and gold curtains. The dorm had stone walls and wooden floors and a red and yellow carpet with the house crest in the centre.

Louis closed his eyes and thought about the feeling of starting a new life in brand new place with incredible new friends. He whispered a quiet goodnight to Niall and Liam and drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please subscribe to this fic to get updates for when a new chapter is posted. I will be posting one chapter per week!  
> Also, comments and kudos would make me incredibly happy! Thank you for reading. :)


	2. Ink Antics

The smell of fried bacon wafted over to Louis as he made his way to the Gryffindor table with Niall. Liam had woken up early and gone for a jog around the Quidditch pitch and he was supposed to meet Louis and Niall for breakfast in the Great Hall. Not having spotted Liam, Louis squinted his eyes as he tried to look for Liam at the Gryffindor table. Liam waved from where he sat with Jarvis and Claire, to catch Louis’ attention. Spotting him, Louis guided their way over to the empty spot next to Claire.

The Great Hall looked different in the mornings; Louis noticed. All the candles that were suspended above them were put out and the only source of light was the bright blue sky in place of the ceiling. Rather the ceiling looked like the bright blue sky outside. He took in a deep breath of the food set up on the table as he sat down next to Claire. Niall gave a quick pat on the back to Liam and placed himself next to Jarvis. On the table were several plates food that had Louis’ mouth-watering. There were boiled eggs, sausages, baked beans, and bacon on Louis’ side of the table. A little further away were plates of mashed potatoes, sautéed mushrooms, salad, toast, jam, grilled tomatoes, and black pudding. There were also baskets of fruits between every four places set up.

“There’s salad today!” Niall exclaimed as he filled his plate with the salad and some sautéed mushrooms. Louis noticed something peculiar happen that nobody else seemed to have caught on. Niall’s hair turned a striking shade of blue as he began eating his salad. Louis’ eyes widened and the fork he was using to put some sausages in his plate fell with a small thud onto the table. Niall looked up instantly and Claire whipped her head to look over at Louis.

“What’s wrong, mate? Everything alright?” Niall asked with a worried expression. He looked like he was about to leave everything and come to Louis’ side to make sure he was alright.

“Y-” Louis looked at the rest of them who seemed confused. Apparently, Niall’s hair turning blue over breakfast was something common. “Your hair,” said Louis flatly. “It turned blue?” he exclaimed with a questioning tone that indicated that he was utterly confused that the others had not noticed it. Comprehension dawned on their faces and Niall gave a small laugh and stated, “I’m a Metamorphmagus.”

“What’s that?” Louis asked.

Niall’s eyebrows creased together. “You’re a half-blood, right?”

“Yes, but my mum never told me what a Metamorphongus is. Nor did we have anyone like that at Beauxbatons,” Louis said simply.

Claire and Jarvis giggled at the way Louis butchered the whole pronunciation while Louis hardly noticed that he had.

“Ah, okay. Well, it’s a person who has the rare ability to change their physical appearance at will.” Suddenly Niall’s features changed, and Louis was looking at himself. It was like looking into a mirror, except that the other Louis was wearing slightly smaller robes that belonged to Niall.

“That’s so sick, mate! Is there a way for me to learn how to do that too?” Louis questioned, truly impressed and wanting to be able to change his appearance that way as well.  
Niall chuckled and morphed back to himself with blue hair. “It’s not a skill that can be learnt, sadly. Metamorphmagus are born, you can’t make them. But hereditary plays a role in it too, I think. My grandmother on my mother’s side was one as well.”

Only slightly disappointed, Louis thought this would be an extremely cool way to trick people and prank them. And teachers too, he thought. “Hey, can you turn into a teacher?” Louis prodded as excitement ran through him. Niall instantly turned into Professor McGonagall and changed his expression to a stern one. “I did not expect this from you, Mr. Horan.” Niall imitated Professor McGonagall aptly and everyone fell into a fit of giggles. The students sitting around them looked at Niall wide-eyed. Louis thought that it was astonishing, that they weren’t used to seeing Niall turn into different people all the time. When he turned to look at Niall though, Louis saw not only Prof. McGonagall sitting at the table with them but also the real Prof. McGonagall standing behind Niall. He immediately understood why the others looked scared and their expressions made a lot more sense now. Louis tried to kick Niall under the table to let him know so that he would change back to himself. But Niall only continued, “Swish and then flick it, Mr. Payne.” He moved his hands in pretend motion in a mocking way to make his friends laugh. “Why’re you kicking me, Louis?” only then did Niall understand and he immediately shut his mouth and started morphing back to himself.

“Do you wish to earn yourself a detention on the first day of term, Mr. Horan?” Professor McGonagall looked like she was slightly amused and flattered but also like she was quite angry at Niall. Louis had a feeling that she had a soft spot for Niall. Louis wholeheartedly understood that. Niall was the type of goofball prankster who was loved by all the teachers no matter how much he pranked everyone.

“No, professor.” Niall gave a half-hearted apology, the horror written on his face. 

“Don’t do it again. Especially when we’re in the same place.” She gave a slight wink. Louis was astounded that she was actually on board with Niall pranking people as long as she wasn’t around.

Niall nodded enthusiastically as he agreed. In the next moment she turned to Louis and said, “Mr. Tomlinson before I give you your timetable, could you tell me what profession you would be interested in? That way I can check your O.W.L score, not that I have to apparently as it seems you’ve done quite brilliantly.” Professor McGonagall was looking at a sheet of paper where Louis assumed, she had got his grades written down.

“I’m really interested in the healing field. So probably some type of Healer?” Louis prompted.

“Very well. Good choice, Mr Tomlinson. You’ve got good grades in all the subjects needed to pass onto the N.E.W.T’s level.” McGonagall tapped on the paper and it turned into a schedule of sorts. “This will be your timetable for this year. Now remember that the free periods are for spending time doing homework, research, and extracurricular activities. Do not waste the time dilly dallying around. Understood?”

“Yes, professor.” Louis agreed weakly.

“As for the rest of you, your Head of House will be here shortly with your timetables. Good luck.” With a confident swish, she turned and started walking to the teachers table at the front of the Hall. 

The excited chatter amongst the Gryffindor sixth years came to an end as timetables were being handed out by Professor Kirby. She was a woman that stood tall above almost all the teachers, excluding Hagrid. She had a sleek face framed with curly bangs that stuck to her forehead as she bobbed around the students giving them their timetables and declaring important instructions. She was quite cheerful and smiled the most beautiful and genuine smile. Louis thought that this woman was a teacher who really loved being around students and children. The rest of her dirty blonde hair was pulled into a loose braid. She wore black lace up boots under her robes that Louis noticed when she came around to instruct Niall on his classes and his timetable. Louis thought that she looked like an American singer. “Mr. Tomlinson, I assume you’ve got your timetable from the headmistress. I’m Professor Inés Kirby, I’m your Head of House and your Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.”

Louis immediately got up and shook hands with her. His mom had always expressed the importance of respecting his teachers and everything they did for him.  
“Nice to meet you, professor.”

She gave him a warm smile and scrunched up her nose like she was startled and pleased by his manners.

“You too, Mr. Tomlinson. Do not ever hesitate to come to me if you have a problem or if you need any help. Take extra care of him, alright you lot?” she expressed to his new group of friends.

They chorused an enthusiastic yes as she moved on to hand Jarvis his timetable. Louis had had proper introductions with Jarvis and Caleb once they had woken up. They were both sweet to him and offered to help him with anything he needed. Jarvis seemed quieter and more fun-loving, while Caleb was brash and spoke a lot. Louis felt extremely comfortable at Hogwarts already and it hadn’t even been a day. He had felt so welcomed throughout that he realised the reason why his mom thought it was such a brilliant idea to shift schools this late in his academic career.

As he looked over his timetable Louis noticed that he had five subjects overall that he needed to have N.E.W.T’s on to learn to be a Healer. The N.E.W.T’s or Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Test was a subject specific exam that the students of Hogwarts took in their seventh year to help them pursue certain careers after their graduation. Louis had always considered becoming a Healer because he felt like protecting people or healing them was one of the greatest jobs there could be. He was satisfied to know that he would be studying Charms, Potions, Herbology, Transfiguration and Defence Against the Dark arts for his N.E.W.T’s. Louis was particularly good at Potions and Herbology which also happened to be the most important subjects for any Healer.

Louis compared his timetable with his friends and found that Niall, Claire, and Leah had the same classes as him. Claire wanted to be a Healer just like Louis, while Niall and Leah wanted to work as Aurors. All of them needed each teachers’ grade expectations of O.W.L’s to take the classes into their N.E.W.T’s level. Thankfully, they all had each teachers’ expected grades and had all the same classes together. Liam on the other hand though shared all classes with them except Herbology and Charms. He had opted for Arithmancy and Ancient Runes instead. He was not sure what career he wanted but was looking at being a professional Quidditch player. He had decided that he would have a ministry job to fall back on if being a Quidditch player didn’t pan out. 

The group made their way towards the North Tower, also known as the Divination Tower. It was one of the smaller towers but still huge compared to any other buildings Louis saw in London. Since it was a Tuesday, they had double Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons after breakfast. Leah mentioned to Louis that they had Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons with the Slytherin House. Louis entered the classroom with his friends and took in the spacious classroom. A huge iron chandelier hung from the ceiling and not too far from it was a dragon’s skeleton that hung limply. There were several desks, tables, seats, and a blackboard up at the front of the class. Next to it, was a bigger desk where the professor would sit. The room had a set of large windows with dark curtains that were pulled back to let the light pour in. Each table had seats for three students. On one side sat the Slytherins and the other side sat the Gryffindors. Louis had a mild panic as they made their way to the seats, not knowing whether Liam and Niall would let Louis sit with them. When he stopped in his tracks to look around at the empty seats, Niall pulled him by his robes to the table where Liam and Niall sat.

“We’re your friends, mate. You sit with us,” he asserted.

Louis sat down next to them and removed his parchment and quill along with the textbook they had been set for the sixth year. Professor Kirby walked in through the door swiftly and made her way to the front of the class. She stood in front of the desk and waited for the class’ chatter to come to a halt.

“Welcome to the sixth year of Defence Against the Dark Arts, students. I am Professor Inés Kirby and I will be teaching you how to defend yourself from all aspects of the Dark Arts including dark creatures, curses, hexes, dark charms and duelling. Remember that if it is done in the right way, you can fight or survive against the Dark Arts. Now, before we begin, I’d like to introduce a new student that we have welcomed from the French magic school of Beauxbatons.”

Louis’ heart skipped a beat and his palms immediately started sweating. He hated being the centre of attention in a class when he did not know anybody.  
“Mr. Tomlinson, could you please come forward?” she asked politely.

Niall gave Louis a small encouraging smile as Louis got up to make his way to the front of the class. His legs wobbled as he made his way to the front of the class. His heart started beating exceedingly fast and he was getting immensely nervous. Louis was sure he would faint if he had to stand there for long.

“I’m sure it would be better if you introduced yourself to them, actually. Go ahead, Mr. Tomlinson.” She encouraged as the most helpful teacher ever.

“Uh, hi. I’m Louis Tomlinson. I’m sixteen. I was born in France and grew up there. I attended Beauxbatons for most of my school years, but we had to shift to England recently, so I shifted schools and I’m here at Hogwarts now,” he finished lamely and looked over at Professor Kirby. Louis saw the curly haired Slytherin roll his eyes and snigger at something in the corner. Louis wanted to punch him for being an asshole.

“That’s great, Mr. Tomlinson. Now I want each and every single one of you to be kind and accommodating to our new student and help him out whenever he needs it,” informed Professor Kirby.

At her signal, Louis went back to his seat next to Niall and sat down quietly.

“That was great, mate,” Liam assured him with a thumbs up. 

“Now class, you will be stepping into the level of N.E.W.T’s which will be much harder and advanced than your O.W.L’s. This year we will be tackling not many topics, but we will be discussing each of these topics in-depth. This year’s topics are interesting, and they might be daunting as we will be studying two of the Unforgivable Curses later on in class, but not to worry, I will be here helping you all the while. I feel the need to express onto you that even though you have lesser classes and more free time - it is not for procrastination and dawdling but for completing your homework, studying by yourself, going to the library as much as you can and for extracurricular activities.”

“Now, our first topic is something you will be needing in most of your other classes. You will be learning how to cast non-verbal spells,” she continued while glancing over at each student. Professor Kirby then questioned, “Who can tell me what the advantages of non-verbal spells are?”

Louis knew the answer immediately but waited for someone else to answer. He had read up most of his books before coming to Hogwarts. He did not have enough time to explore and make any new friends in London, so he found himself bored quite often. During and after the shifting process, opening his schoolbooks after finishing their home library of limited books was his only saviour.

After a couple of seconds, when no one answered and the class fell silent, Louis raised his hand.

“Ah yes, Mr. Tomlinson?”

“Well, you have a split-second advantage over your opponent because they won’t know what spell you’ve cast. There’s sort of an element of surprise?” Louis explained. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the curly haired lad from Slytherin, Styles, miming comically to Louis’ explanation. Louis felt the urge to smack him on his head or send a flying ink pot towards him.

Professor Kirby continued to explain the advantages and disadvantages of non-verbal spells. Louis could hear Styles whisper something along the lines of “Tomlinson” “stuck up” “teacher’s pet” to his friends. Louis looked over to Niall and Liam who seemed to have heard too and they looked sheepish and sorry. It was one thing insulting him but disrespecting the teacher openly and unashamedly by talking so blatantly in class was something Louis could not let slip. Rolling his eyes, Louis pulled out his wand and positioned his bag to sit right under where his hand was under the desk. He quickly whispered an incantation which he had found in “Prank Spells for Advanced Misfits.”

Louis immediately dropped his wand after whispering the incantation and it fell right into where his bag sat. Styles sat with his friend - Malik and another girl. The girl that sat with them had an ink pot sitting on the table which immediately soared up above their heads, but before any of them could even react the ink pot burst as if it had been hit with a Confringo spell. The ink splattered on the three of them but most of it fell directly onto Styles who looked furious. 

“Mr. Styles, what do you think you’re doing?!” exclaimed Professor Kirby at the sound of the small ink pot exploding and splattering on the floor and all over the desk. Styles instantly bounced out of his chair and stood tall against the others, with his wand in hand as if to catch the culprit.

“I-” Styles started but couldn’t get any words out. His nostrils flared and his eyebrows were knitted together with anger. “I didn’t do it.” He then whirled his head around where he saw Louis, Niall, and Liam sniggering. Claire, Leah, and the rest of the Gryffindor house were giggling too.

“It was one of them! It was him, professor,” Styles blamed, his voice thick with venom as he spat out his words and pointed to Louis. 

“What?” Louis asked with mock confusion and innocence. “I don’t even have my wand on me, mate. My wand is in my bag. Here, look.” Louis explained earnestly with fake innocence. He pulled out his Willow wand after ruffling in his bag for a bit. Louis looked between Styles and Professor Kirby as they watched.

Professor Kirby looked genuinely annoyed at Styles. When he failed to say anything as a reply to Louis, Prof. Kirby sighed. “Do not accuse your classmates without any evidence, Mr. Styles. You have not been paying attention the whole class, just whispering along with your friends. You need to learn how to respect your teachers. Sit down.”

She cast a cleaning spell on Styles, his friends and their desks which removed the ink and dried their robes.

“Now I’d like you all to get up so we can practice non-verbal spells. Pair up and start with something simple like the Disarming Charm. Do not try anything else without my supervision.”

The whole class shuffled to their feet and Professor Kirby vanished the desks and seats to clear up more space for them to practice in. All the students put their bags to the side and paired up. Niall paired up with Liam. Louis was afraid he would have no one to be paired with but as he looked around Leah walked over to him.

“Mind pairing up with me?” she asked boldly. Louis got the feeling that she knew he was scared no one would pick him as a partner.

“Yeah,” he said taking a deep breath. He was relieved that he wouldn’t have to practice nonverbal spells with his professor as last resort.  
Looking around he spotted Claire practising with another girl from Gryffindor. “Don’t overthink it. You’re part of our group now and we’ll make sure you’re always included.” She nodded to him. Louis said that he was thankful and really appreciated it. “And to be honest, I’d be upset if I didn’t get to pair up with someone who’s going to be my future partner in crime.” Leah winked at him with a knowing look. Louis was glad that at least someone had caught up with his pranking personality. 

The class proceeded with haphazard Disarming Charms being thrown everywhere other than where their opponents stood. But most of them struggled to cast anything. By the end of their lesson the only people who managed to disarm their opponents were Malik, an Indian girl from Slytherin, Louis and Leah. Professor Kirby assured them that as they kept practising, they would be able to do nonverbal spells more often and more precisely. She suggested to all the students who had Dogwood wands, only two, to practice extra hard as their wands were less cooperative with nonverbal spells. Louis left the class feeling content that he had successfully learnt how to cast at least one nonverbal spell. The downside though was that Prof. Kirby had assigned them a 12-inch essay on the usage and advantages of nonverbal spells for homework. But even that couldn’t ruin Louis’ mood because felt quite proud of himself for the way he had dealt with Styles. The least of his worries of going to a new school being a bully, Louis wanted everyone to know that he could stand up for himself and was a force to be reckoned with.

After a light lunch, and hearty congratulations from his friends for the ink pot spell, the group of five made their way to their Transfiguration lesson which was being held in one of the ground floor classes. The Gryffindors shared the class with the sixth year Ravenclaws and their Transfiguration teacher was the headmistress, Professor McGonagall. As Louis had correctly assumed, she was a strict teacher who did not tolerate any nonsense. She started by expressing the difficulty of the N.E.W.T’s level, just like Prof. Kirby and then moved on to the theory of using nonverbal spells for Transfiguration work. Louis figured that they would have to start performing wordless magic from this year forth. Dejected at the lack of change in the topic, the students pored over their books as they read the first chapter along with their professor. At the end of the lecture, Professor McGonagall asked them to perfect at least one nonverbal Transfiguration spell by the next class and assigned them some homework. They had to write an 11-inch essay on spells that cannot be cast nonverbally in the Transfiguration field. Louis knew that that just meant he had a load of library research to do.

After classes ended, the group of five went down by the Black Lake for a small picnic. Claire suggested a picnic by the lake and Liam was the most enthusiastic person who begged everyone to come along even if it were just for a while. Leah was the hardest to convince, she feared that she wouldn’t finish all her homework and wanted to get started on it immediately. Louis felt the same but before he could say so, Niall told them that it was the first day of term and they shouldn’t be spending such a good first day holed up in the library. Since no one could argue with that, Claire and Liam went ahead to get picnic materials and food from the house elves that worked in the kitchens. Leah, Niall, and Louis on the other hand had a leisurely walk all the way to the lake, exploring and showing Louis the group’s favourite spots. When they reached the Black Lake, Louis could see the incredible set up of the picnic at the shore of the Great Lake. Louis who was confused why there were two names for it, declared that the Black Lake sounded much better and should only be referred to as that. 

As the group sat on a bed sheet with a faded yellow checkered pattern, they ate various fruits and sandwiches. Liam lied down with his head on Louis’ lap as Louis snacked on blueberries. They spent most of their time talking, eating, laughing at Niall’s bizarre stories, and getting to know Louis better. They even had a marshmallow eating competition, which Claire won by far. The group dipped their toes into the Black Lake while sitting on an enormous rock that was halfway submerged in the lake. Leah and Niall scared Louis by telling him that the Giant Squid that lived in the lake was going to pull him under. As a reaction Louis just squeaked and pulled his legs from the water. When another group of students came towards the lake, Leah asked one of the students to take a picture of Louis’ new group. Happy to be included in such a peculiar group of friends, he smiled genuinely as the magical camera went off with a flash.

Later that evening in the Gryffindor Common Room, all the sixth years concentrated on the homework that was assigned. Louis could see Claire, Jarvis, and Liam practice nonverbal spells. Their purple faces were strained as though they had overdosed on U-No-Poo from the Weasleys Wizard Wheezes. The joke shop was internationally famous and Louis’ first visit had been a magical experience. Louis and Niall sat on the comfortable armchairs, working on their Defence Against the Dark Arts essays. After a tiring feat of homework verses the students, one by one, each of them eventually gave up and went up to their dorms to sleep. Louis gave in after finishing a rough draft of the essay. He packed his things together while Leah waited for him before saying goodnight and heading up to the girls dormitories. Louis could feel the sleep take over him, the moment he changed into his pyjamas and hit the bed.

Louis awoke in the early hours of the morning. Following his restless movements to make himself comfortable so that he would fall asleep again, Louis gave up and looked to the side of his bed. Turning over he stretched his hand out to look for his wand on the nightstand next to his bed. He quickly murmured, “Tempus” in a low voice, wanting to avoid waking up his dorm mates. The wand sprout out some sparkling numbers at its tip and Louis groaned at the time. It was 4 am and he was wide awake. As the numbers faded away after a minute, Louis thought that there was no use lying in bed for the rest of the morning. He got up and groggily put on a maroon sweater with a Gryffindor badge sewn on the left-hand side of the chest. He quietly padded his way down to the common room. The empty room, looking cleaner than it was last night, stood still. Louis made his way over to the library on one side of the wall of the common room, grabbed a book and walked over to the comfiest armchair that was close to the fireplace and sat in it. He’d picked Book of Potions by Zygmunt Budge, a book that explained the magic of potion-making. Louis was deeply interested in potions and everything about it. It was like cooking, but just weirder and more intense, he thought.

Louis was so engrossed in his book that he didn’t notice Claire step down from the girls dormitories and make her way towards him. 

“Why’re you up this early?” she questioned her voice even softer than her normal mellow and soft voice. Surprised at the sudden breach in the silence, Louis was startled and immediately sat up so straight that his book fell off the chair.

“Merlin, you scared me.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to.” She said sleepily as she rubbed her brown eyes.

“I woke up and couldn’t go back to sleep. How come you’re up?”

“Nightmare.”

“Wanna talk about it?”

Claire shrugged as she sat down on the armchair next to where Louis sat with his legs folded on the armchair.

“Well, I dreamt that I was in a maze and a werewolf was chasing me. I was running around for a long time and then I saw a tree that resembled the Whomping Willow in a clearing. I tripped on something like a rock and fell down and then I watched as the werewolf ran towards me. I didn’t scream for help though. The werewolf came closer and closer and it had yellow eyes. It almost got me too, but I woke up,” narrated the girl.

“It was just a dream though, Claire. I don’t think you should dwell on it. There aren’t any werewolves here at Hogwarts. Do you need a hug?”

“I’m usually very awkward but I think a hug would calm me down a bit. I ran to the common room because I was panicking. Didn’t think anyone would actually be here, though.” The curly haired girl smiled shyly. 

Louis quickly got up and gave her a hug. “It’ll be alright.”

She accepted his words of assurance and moved to grab something from the tables next to them. She unwrapped a blanket that sat on the table closest to her and layered it on top of Louis and her. 

“I wish we could’ve had some hot chocolate.”

Claire sat up at the thought. Her eyes shone with excitement. “Puggy,” she announced simply to the room. Before Louis could ask her what she was talking about, he heard a sudden _‘pop’_ that tore through the silence of the early morning. Suddenly a house elf appeared in front of Claire. 

Next to an empty armchair near the fireplace stood a two or a two and a half feet tall elf. The elf had spindly arms and legs with a large head. It had huge bulging blue eyes that shone in the dim light of the common room. “Yes, Miss Claire?” The elf bowed down first to Claire and then to Louis. 

“Could you please bring us some hot chocolate, Puggy?” Claire asked the elf politely.

“Of course, Miss Claire. Puggy will be right back.” She left with another loud _pop_.

“Puggy is a strange name,” Louis commented.

“She used to be bound to an old Pureblood family, but she got herself freed after the Second Wizarding War and then McGonagall gave her a job here. She wanted a change of name as well, so she named herself Puggy. She’s exceptionally brave too, you know.” Claire seemed to know quite a lot about the house elf. When Louis asked her about it, she said she went down to the kitchens, where they work so often that she had become friends with some of the house elves. 

With another _pop_ , Puggy was back. She carried in her small arms a tray with colourful mugs and a small pot filled with steaming hot chocolate. This time around, Louis noticed that instead of the conventional clothing of discarded items like pillowcases and tea-towels worn by house elves, Puggy wore hot pink pants with a horribly clashing brown sweater. Behind her pointed, bat-like ears sat a pair of humongous summer shades. Louis had never seen house elves this interested in fashion before, but he was sure that there was a story behind it. Maybe she had taken inspiration from the famous house elf – Dobby, Louis thought. 

“This is Louis, Puggy. He’s new here at Hogwarts.”

“Oh,” she squeaked. “It is nice knowing you, Mr. Louis.”

Smiling at the manner in which house elves spoke differently, Louis shook hands with the tiny elf.

“I will be happy to help all friends of Miss Claire. Please say my name if anything is needed.”

“I will,” Louis assured her. 

Louis and Claire thanked Puggy for her service and the little elf Disapparated back to the kitchens. They poured some hot chocolate for themselves and sipped at it while staring into the fireplace. They sat in silence for a while until Claire started telling him about all the house elves who worked in Hogwarts that she was friends with. Louis listened gladly since he didn’t know much about house elves or Claire. His family never had any house elves employed in their house and he had never met one before Puggy. After a couple of minutes, they heard gentle padding as someone came down from the boys dormitories. It was Niall, yawning so big that Louis could see inside of his mouth.

“Louis, I was worried, mate. I woke up and you weren’t there. I thought you sleepwalked and must’ve got lost somewhere,” Niall rambled on drowsily and mildly panicked. Louis giggled and told him not to worry and that he was just fine.

“I couldn’t sleep. I just came down here to read and then Claire showed up.”

Louis hadn’t taken Niall to be the cuddly type, but he made his way over to Louis and sat on the arm of Louis’ armchair and slowly slid down next to Louis. Louis moved and made place for him. Niall cuddled up to him ignoring how cramped they were. Claire shot Louis a knowing look. “He’s a cuddly sleeper. Anytime we have sleepovers, he’s the first to sleep and the best part is - he talks in his sleep.”

Niall was asleep before Claire could finish her sentence. He snored slightly every now and then, causing Louis and Claire to erupt into a fit of silent giggles.

“Louis, Liam didn’t get his ears removed,” he whispered seriously after a while. Louis tried his best to not burst into laughter and moved to see if Claire had heard but she was fast asleep as well. Louis smiled to himself and continued reading. Around 6:15 in the morning, Liam made his way downstairs where he stumbled upon a delightful scene. Niall squeezed next to Louis as he drooled on the armchair, Claire sitting close to Louis as she painted his nails a sky-blue colour.

“I call it a Louis shade of blue. Louis blue. It’s the same shade as your eyes, you know.”

Liam went over to them and got his nails painted too. He chose a magenta shade because he thought it looked the best. When Leah awoke and came down from the dorms, she spotted them sitting together, getting their nails painted. She demanded to get hers painted by all of them with nail art added in. Niall woke up and decided to take it upon himself to give Leah the best painted nails. Louis did his best to make little cherries on Leah’s nails, but it resembled little spots of blood instead. Liam went for flowers, which were perfect. Niall just put dots of lime green on almost all the nails and announced that it was the missing spice that the nails needed. Leah’s nails ended up looking the most creative out of all of theirs. 

What mattered most though was the bond that they had created between them while laughing and splattering nail paint on tables and armchairs. It was something Louis would never forget.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please subscribe to this fic to get updates for when a new chapter is posted. I will be posting one chapter per week!  
> Also, comments and kudos would make me incredibly happy! Thank you for reading. :)


	3. Wanderer's Map

The first week of term flew by so swiftly that Louis did not even get enough time for a small break where he could be by himself. Being particularly individualistic, not having any alone time made Louis want to wander around the school grounds alone. Knowing that it was not the best course of action since he was still getting used to the castle and its winding hallways, he let this thought go. All his classes were on an advanced level this year which meant that they were getting tougher and it was harder to keep up with everything. Fortunately, he had his friends to rely on when he needed a helping hand. They practiced spells together and helped each other out while doing their homework. More often than not though, Louis was the clever one who ended up helping his friends. He had a strict work ethic that he had put into use since he was in second year, just to make sure he got all his work done in time. He did not mind helping his friends at all, he was just happy to have their company. 

Louis was glad that the end of the weekend had arrived. He needed a rightfully deserved break in order to get his sleeping schedule back in place along with finishing his schoolwork just in time. Talking over late breakfast with his friends, Niall tried to convince Louis to try out for the Quidditch team. 

“Mate, please.” 

“But why are you so adamant about it?”

“Because I’m the Gryffindor Quidditch team Captain and I really want a good team.”

“You are? That’s so cool!” But before Niall could say anything else Louis interrupted. 

“But you don’t even know if I’m any good,” stated Louis. 

“Yes well, and I won’t know until you come to try-outs. I’m a fair Captain, mate. I won’t let you in on the team if you don’t perform well at try-outs.” 

“He’s not doing this just so we have our friends on our team, Louis. Niall’s as passionate about Quidditch as I am,” assured Liam. 

“Anyway, it’s good to have extracurricular activities to let off some steam.”

“But I-“

“Oh, just do it, Louis. Showing up to the try-outs isn’t going to kill you,” Leah said rolling her eyes. “And anyway, the whole school knows we need a new Seeker since Diya finished seventh year last year. You would be perfect as a Seeker. You’ve got the build for it too.”

“I thought Niall was Seeker,” added Louis. 

“I’m one of the Chasers. Liam and Leah switch between Chasers and Beaters on the team. We won’t know about our positions this year until try-outs. You’re the right fit for Seeker, Louis. You’re tiny.”

“I’m not tiny! You’re just a _few_ inches taller, Niall.”

The rest of the conversation followed, and Louis was teased relentlessly as the tiny one in their group. Reluctantly, Louis agreed to try-out for the position of Seeker that afternoon. But before that, Louis pleaded the group if they could take him to the Owlery. He missed his tiny owl - Kiwi. He had not seen her for a while and was starting to wonder if she was alright. 

“I have to finish my Potions essay, mate. Sorry,” apologised Niall sheepishly. Niall was not the best at Potions and messed up most of his potions brewing. How he managed to reach the N.E.W.T’s level was a wonder. 

“Me too,” added Liam. 

“I have to go help Jarvis with some spell work,” responded Claire. 

“I’ll take you,” Leah declared. “I’m a free woman. Let’s go, Lou.”

Leah and Louis made their way to the Owlery in the West Tower of Hogwarts. As they walked on towards the Owlery, Leah told Louis all about the gossip surrounding the sixth-year students. 

“And what about you, who do you fancy?” Leah wiggled her eyebrows excitedly. 

“Tell me about your girlfriend – Florence,” asked Louis instead. Louis noticed the internal struggle Leah had. She was bursting to positively gush about her Ravenclaw girlfriend but also wanted to know more about Louis’ love life. 

Deciding on her course of action she firmly said, “Don’t change the topic. Oh, do you have a French girlfriend back at Beauxbatons?”

“Non, ma chérie,” he spoke in a French accent while shaking his head. “I’m gay.”

Even though the Wizarding World was more accepting of the LGBTQ+ community, Louis was always nervous and jittery while coming out to people. 

“Oh! A French boyfriend, then? I’ve heard the boys in France are the sexiest.” Louis’ heart stopped beating rapidly and slowed down. 

“Well, I did have a boyfriend at one point in Beauxbatons, but it didn’t work out.”

“Aw, that’s alright. We’ll find you someone even better here. Did you find anyone attractive here so far?”

The image of Styles popped into his head for a second before it disappeared. He was a douche and Louis was not attracted to people that did not have a decent personality. 

“What about Styles, the one you practically threw the inkpot at. He’s attractive. Students from all years and houses drool over him.”

A pink colour rising to his cheeks, Louis immediately shot down the idea. “He’s an asshole. Didn’t you hear him muttering about me in Defence that day?”

“Yeah. Sorry about that. What about Caleb? I’ve caught him staring at you a couple times now.”

Leah stopped dead in her tracks. Not having noticed, Louis giggled at ridiculous thought of dating someone as brash as Caleb and walked on. When he realised that Leah was no longer walking with him, he turned to her with a questioning look. 

“What’s wrong?”

“I-“ she said clutching her stomach. “I’m gonna have to go back to dorm. I think I’ve got my period.”

Wincing at the thought of period cramps, Louis made his way over to her. “Bloody hell! Quite literally. Are you okay?”

“Yes. I just need to -“ she pointed in the vague direction behind her. “I’m sorry. Will you be able to find the Owlery? It’s just ahead after a left turn here.”

“Left turn. Got it. Don’t worry at all. Will you be okay?” genuine concern showed on his face. 

“Yeah. It’s just cramps. I need to lay down and take a pain-relieving potion. I’ll be okay. Don’t worry.”

With a final hug, Leah left to go back to the dorms while Louis walked to the owlery. A huge circular stone room with huge windows without glass panes rendered the room cold and draughty. The entire floor was covered in straw, owl droppings and skeletons of rodents that were fed to the owls. High up above sat almost a hundred owls perched on rows of wood. A tiny Scops Owl screeched and hooted as it flew down towards Louis, who immediately held out his hand for the little bird to sit on. Kiwi sat wobbling on Louis’ hand, excited to see his best friend. After having a chat with Kiwi and giving her a handful of treats, Louis set off to return to the Gryffindor Common Room. The problem though was that he had no idea how to get there since he had come from the Great Hall.

Louis wandered around for twenty minutes until he came across a passage to another hallway. He followed it all the way and thought it looked an often lot like one of the sixth or fourth floor corridors. Pacing ahead and not knowing where he was going, Louis started to feel panicked. He ran around corridors and took turns every now and then hoping that he would see someone who could help him out. After taking some harsh left turns, he started upon a hallway where he finally saw someone tall walking towards him. Panic still set in his stomach he took long strides but as the figure came closer, the realisation struck him as to who the tall person was. It was the douchebag Styles. There was no way in hell Louis was going to ask him for help, Louis thought. Styles walked alone with three books in his hands. Donning three silver rings with intricate designs his fingers gripped the books tightly. Louis passed Styles in dread, irrationally thinking that he was going to die alone in one of these corridors until someone found him. Out of the corner of his eye, Louis thought he saw Styles looking at him. 

Louis walked ahead with his head hung until he heard the other set of footsteps come to a halt. He looked over his shoulder to see that Styles had stopped and turned around to look at Louis. He immediately went to pull out his wand in case Styles shot a spell at him in revenge for the inkpot incidence, but instead he was surprised to hear Styles’ slow British accent.

“Are you lost?” he questioned in a low drawl and mild curiosity. He did not show any emotions on his pale face. Styles just stared at him with his clear green eyes. 

Louis stopped and turned quickly, both standing at least 7 feet away from each other. 

“No,” Louis muttered feeling the warmth of the blush crawling up to his cheeks once again. 

“There’s nothing on this floor to be roaming around here.”

“Well then what are _you_ doing here?” Louis accused. 

“I’m going up to the top of the Training Grounds Tower. It’s quiet and windy and no one hangs around there. Was going to sit and read there,” he lifted the books in his hands.  
When Louis did not respond, Styles sighed and said, “Take a right ahead and walk down the corridor and take the second left. You’ll see a bunch of stairs, go down and you’ll reach the second-floor corridor where the library and Charms classrooms are. “

Louis once again remained speechless. Why was Styles helping him? Especially after Louis had thrown an inkpot at him. “Do you know your way back from there?” Styles posed. When no answer came, Styles shut his eyes and breathed deeply. 

“You walk straight ahead and pass the library, after about 10 minutes of walking straight ahead, you’ll see a portrait of a knight with a skull instead of a head. That’s the Gryffindor Tower. You’ll find the Common Room on the third portrait to the left. The one with the Fat Lady. Alright?” 

“It’s a lot to remember,” Louis stated sheepishly as he bit on his lower lip nervously. He thought the directions sounded a lot like jumbled up words that Styles was spitting out just for fun. He knew he would get lost even deeper into the castle if he tried to memorize and follow Styles’ directions.

After staring at Louis for a whole minute, Styles tore out a page from his book and scribbled a small map onto the back of the paper. Louis stood waiting silently, looking over Styles’ shoulder. When Styles handed over the paper, Louis looked at it and read the instructions scribbled under the map in slightly slanting handwriting. It would be pretty simple - returning to the Gryffindor Common Room. 

“Thank you, Styles,” Louis whispered in a low voice. Maybe he had judged Styles in a wrong way. He had helped Louis even though he could have just left without saying a word. Maybe Styles was just not good at paying attention in class. But that didn’t mean he had to be an arrogant bastard during the lecture, did he?

“Not a problem, Tomlinson,” Styles said and cleared his throat with a small smile. He took a step back, turned and walked towards the other side. Louis watched him for a few seconds till he turned and started walking according to the instructions on his little personalised map. 

Before turning the corner, Styles looked behind to see Louis walking forward while concentrating on reading the map right.

***

“Flavo Flores,” Louis stated, and the portrait swung forward to let him into the common room. He immediately spotted Niall with his hair as green as the grass outside. Louis walked towards the chairs and sofas pushed together in one part of the common room. Niall, Claire, Caleb, and Liam were all huddled together going over their essays. Their heads shot up when Louis arrived and greeted them. They chorused a low “hey” to him and went back to working on their essays. 

“What took you so long? You were gone for a long time,” observed Liam. 

With a sheepish grin on his face he replied, “I got lost.” 

Niall and Claire looked up from their work at that. 

“Got lost?” “Where?”

“In the Training Grounds Tower.”

“Well, where was Leah?”

“Oh, you didn’t see her? She got her period, so she rushed back here. I guess she’s in the dorm taking a nap.”

“Did you find your way back with the help of the Cactopuli?” Claire inquired. 

“The what?”

“Cactopuli. They float around in the air and guide you to where you want to go. They’re invisible unless you really need them,” informed Claire. 

Having never heard of such a creature, Louis looked to Niall and Liam to confirm if she was pulling his leg, but it seemed that she wasn’t. Niall had a blank face and Liam just rolled his eyes at her. Claire turned out to be the oddball of the group whose weird thoughts everyone was used to. Louis enjoyed her company immensely though. Ignoring what Claire had asked he stated, “Styles from Slytherin helped me.”

Niall and Liam turned their heads to look over at Louis. Liam had an extremely worried expression on his face and Niall looked a little scared. Liam immediately started chewing on his lower lip nervously. 

Louis saw Niall physically cool his features and his emotions off his face. “After what you did with the ink pot?” He raised his eyebrows. 

“Yeah, it was so weird, mate. I didn’t say much but he got the feeling I was lost and gave me a bunch of instructions. Maybe he isn’t as bad as he seems,” Louis shrugged.

Liam and Niall exchanged glances with mysterious looks that Louis could not place. He had no idea what to make of it.

“Well-” Liam started to say and immediately stopped. He looked at Niall and they continued a silent conversation between the two of them. They were raising their eyebrows and making expressions and Louis was absolutely bewildered. Finally, Niall sighed and turned to Louis. 

“Let’s go up to the dorm, we can talk more freely there.”

They advanced to their dorm where they sat on Louis and Niall’s four poster beds. The sun shone brightly as it made its way in through the high windows of the dorm. It was the kind of morning that the group should have spent outside on the school grounds, having a picnic, or taking a dip in the lake. But due to their immense schoolwork they were all stuck inside working on cramming everything they had learnt in their first week into their brains. 

“Tell me what’s going on,” demanded Louis feeling both confused and curious. 

“We just think that you should avoid Styles. He-he’s not good, mate.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“His dad was a Death Eater,” Niall put it plainly. His expression clearly gave away that he was disgusted.

“Well, not anymore, right? He’s probably in Azkaban. We shouldn’t judge Styles because of just that?” Louis was starting to get the feeling and the rivalry between Niall, Liam and Styles was childish. 

“No, he died as a Death Eater when Styles was young. And well,” Liam looked unsure if he should continue. Niall gave him a firm nod and Liam spoke one again with a cold shiver in his voice. 

“Well, Styles and uh, Malik they’ve both been really horrible to us since the beginning of school. Bullied us and made fun of us, in front of other people too. Once Niall and I got the confidence to fight back, we insulted them too and one time it got kind of out of hand. There was fight and Styles, h-he shot a Dark curse at me.”

Liam got up and moved to stand in Niall and Louis’ direct view. Blushing slightly, he unbuttoned his plain white shirt to show a huge scar on his chest. Louis winced. A scar from the top of his left shoulder ran diagonally on Liam’s pale torso and ended near his hip. The scar looked like it was partially healed but something was stopping it from completely healing. Assuming it was really a Dark curse, like Liam had said, Louis was sure that the scar would be on Liam forever. 

“If it weren’t for me running to Professor Kirby in time, Liam would’ve been dead. Styles is not a good person, mate. Sorry. You should stay away from him, it’s for the best.” 

Horrified at the knowledge of Styles attacking Liam with a Dark curse with no remorse or care for his actions, Louis gulped and nodded. Styles had almost killed Liam. Disgusted at the thought, Louis assured them that he understood, and that he would not talk to Styles anymore.

“We didn’t want to tell you back on the train cause we hardly knew you then, mate. We didn’t want to scare you off. We’re sorry,” Niall admitted.

“And of course, we want you to make more friends outside of us but just not with the wrong kind. We’re just trying to protect you. Please don’t think we’re trying to stop you from making more friends and stuff,” mentioned Liam.

Louis nodded in comprehension and accepted their explanation. Liam looked like he wanted to say something more, but he stayed silent after receiving a particular look from Niall. All Louis could think about for the rest of the morning was the whole situation between Niall, Liam, Styles and Malik. The paper map that Styles drew for him, sat inside Louis’ trouser pocket - a burning reminder of their interaction. 

***

Louis forgot about the situation around the time the group were at the Great Hall having lunch. A sense of nervousness sat at the pit of his stomach. Louis had not played Quidditch in a while and he was sure he didn’t play that well anyway. He was determined not to make a fool of himself in front of his new friends though. Even though he felt comfortable around his group, he also felt the need to impress them. He did not want them to think he was an absolute blob of a person because he couldn’t fly on a broom. Not that he couldn’t, Louis would sometimes practice by himself at his old country house and watched all the House games at Beauxbatons. He was intimidated by the Hogwarts students trying out because they seemed much more passionate about the game than Louis had ever been. 

As they carried their brooms down to the pitch in the late afternoon, Louis felt the weight in his hand get heavier as they reached closer and closer to the Quidditch pitch. The wooden Firebolt Supreme owned by Louis was one of the finest of the year. It had just released in the early months of 2014. His mother was adamant on Louis having the best broom for his first year at Hogwarts. She was determined to prove her point that Louis’ years at Hogwarts were going to be the best years of his life. Louis missed his friends back from Beauxbatons extremely. He missed his best friend, Felix, the most. Louis kept reminding himself to write to Felix, but he hadn’t got the chance to yet. 

“Alright, everyone, gather up,” Niall announced at the top of his voice. About twenty people had gathered at the edge of the Quidditch pitch. Claire had explained to Louis earlier that instead of making Liam the Gryffindor Prefect as well as Quidditch Team Captain, Prof. McGonagall thought it would keep their second best Quidditch player and famous prankster – Niall busy if she gave him the responsibility. Hence, she had made Niall the Captain. 

The Quidditch pitch was an elongated oval playing area with little to no grass on it. The pitch had a small circle at the centre, from where all the balls were supposed to be released at the start of the game. Louis saw a tiny white kitten scurry along the pitch. He wondered if a student had lost their kitten and were somewhere worried. He tried to look for the kitten again after looking away for a second, but he couldn’t seem to find it as it had hurried along somewhere. Louis saw hundreds of seats that were raised up to form stands around the pitch to ensure that the spectators were high enough to see what was going on in the game. On that bright and windy morning, they stood tall and fairly empty since the Quidditch pitch had been booked for the Gryffindor Quidditch Team try-outs for the afternoon. The friends of the students that were trying out were the only people sitting up in the stands waiting to cheer on their mates. At either ends of the pitch were golden poles with hoops on the end. 

“First years are not allowed to play Quidditch so kindly leave if you’re a first year,” Niall berated authoritatively at two nervous first years who ran away hurriedly in fear of being yelled at. “Right. Now I’m going to put you all through some drills to assess your strengths. I’ll be assigning your positions on the team accordingly except for the position of Seeker. Those trying out for the position of Seeker please step to the front.” 

Louis stepped toward Niall, while another girl from fourth year and a boy, Alec from fifth year stepped forward. “Get into positions on your broom. The first to catch the Snitch will be announced Seeker. Got it?” When the three of them confirmed they understood, Niall pulled out the Snitch from the trunk and released it into the air. 

As Louis got onto his broom and zoomed towards the golden buzzing object, he heard Niall start with the drills for the rest of the team, “Now, just because you made the team last year doesn’t mean you get a spot this year. Get on your br..”

Louis roamed the oval pitch for fifteen minutes while looking for the Snitch as well as keeping an eye out for his two opponents. Louis thought he spotted the buzzing ball ahead of him but as he raced towards it, the other Gryffindor girl followed him, and Louis lost the Snitch as it flew rapidly elsewhere. After another twenty minutes of hopelessly looking for the Snitch, Louis was about to give up and tell Niall that he did not have the patience for the position when something happened. 

Louis spotted Alec increase his speed, Louis immediately flew forward towards him where he spotted the golden Snitch buzzing just above Alec’s head. Excitement running through his veins, he concentrated on the best path of action that would win him the position of Seeker. Right before Alec could grab the Snitch, Louis shot forward and snatched it mere seconds before Alec got the chance to reach out for it. He held the little ball in his gloved hand as he smiled broadly. He hadn’t actually thought that he’d do it, but he had! He had caught the Snitch and won the position on the Quidditch team. 

Alec looked irate and aggrieved. Not wanting to start a fight he quickly said, “Good game, mate. You were a real tough competition. You held yours well!” Alec’s expression eased and he gave him a small smile with a thumbs up. They all made their way down towards where Niall stood looking over the rest of the crowd while some stood beside him. 

“Looks like we finally have ourselves a Seeker,” Niall declared as the three landed in front of the crowd. Beaming and looking like proud dad about to embarrass his kid, Niall went ahead announcing the team for the year.

“The three Chasers are Willow, Dahlia and meself. The Beaters are Leah and Liam. The Keeper is surprisingly after a tough fight and a lot of deliberation on my part - Nao. And the Seeker is Louis. Alright, team?” 

He heard a loud cheer erupt from the crowd while everyone rushed to hug their friends and share the news. The people in the stands were now down and with their friends celebrating. Before he could process what had happened Louis was engulfed in a tight hug. After opening his eyes and spotting the blonde hair, Louis realised it was Leah. She smelled of fresh parchment and peppermint leaves. 

Niall, Liam, and Leah congratulated each other and decided to celebrate in the evening after all their left-over homework and spell casting practices were done. In the common room later on, Jarvis and Caleb congratulated Louis on making the team and announced that they had a pleasant surprise for their celebration after dinner. 

Louis finished most of his work in an hours’ time since he’d worked through the homework quite fast. Louis quickly penned a letter to his old school friend, Felix, describing his first week at Hogwarts and how much he missed his friend’s presence. Niall was done with his homework about fifteen minutes after Louis finished writing his letter. Louis sent off Kiwi to deliver his letter to Felix at Beauxbatons hoping that he’d get a reply soon enough. After boredom struck them and Niall and Louis sat idle watching the others work for another half hour, Niall got up and announced that he had decided to take Louis down to Hagrid’s to finally make his acquaintance. 

***

Walking through the huge main oak front doors from the Entrance Hall towards the west, Louis and Niall chatted about their childhood. Louis told Niall amusing stories involving muggles, which fascinated Niall. To the west from the castle the school grounds continued in the form of green sloping lawns. The haunting Forbidden Forest extended towards the lower west side. The sloping lawns made place for many greenhouses where Herbology classes were held and numerous vegetable patches where pumpkins, beetroots, cabbages etc were being grown. Further away at the edge of the Forbidden Forest sat a small hut or cabin where the groundskeeper would live. More commonly it was known as Hagrid’s hut. Passing the greenhouses, Louis and Niall were met with their Slytherin classmates. Specifically, Styles, Malik and another girl with dark black hair and enhanced features. Louis’ went cold at the sight of Styles. Instead of being angry, he was scared and wanted to be left alone by the Slytherins. Judging by the girl’s expression upon seeing them, she had different plans. 

“Off to see the big oaf again, are you?” She questioned with a smirk on her face.

“Don’t call him that, Kapoor.”

“Typical Gryffindors,” chuckled Malik. “Hanging out with the downtrodden as charity.”

“He’s our friend and a great one at that,” Niall spat back.

Louis stood beside Niall observing the scene. He felt the need to say something but didn’t know what to say. The sun was setting on the west and the hues of orange, pink and purple were accentuated by the clouds that littered the open sky. Styles had his hair tied up into a small bun at the back of his head. He watched the scene as if it was an amusing daytime television series. 

“A friend that’s part-giant who could attack you at any moment? Enjoy that,” Styles said mockingly.

Louis didn’t know what came over him. He had never even met Hagrid in his life. He was sure Hagrid was amazing in his own way, despite his differences. Louis didn’t think about the words that left his mouth until after he had heard them. 

“At least we’re not friends with someone whose parents were Death Eaters.”

Kapoor gasped, Malik’s eyes blew open and an expression of hurt flew over Styles’ face for a second before he cooled his features with a stony expression instead. The trio hurriedly walked away half-dragging Styles along with them before a fight could ensue. Niall was not happy about what Louis had said either. 

“Don’t say that or react a lot to what they say around them unless you’re looking for trouble, mate. They’ll try to antagonise you but just keep your calm.”

Louis understood his concern and decided to follow what Niall said since he knew the situation the best. A downside though was that Louis could never control himself if he were being antagonised or judged for no reason. He was a feisty one who could dish out a number of sassy or insulting comments. When he began to worry about what would happen the next time, he thought to himself that he would cross that bridge when he reached it. 

Meeting Hagrid was a surreal experience to say the least. Hagrid was a half-giant and Louis had been extremely excited to meet him. He had never met him before, but Louis had caught a glimpse of him when he had stepped off the Hogwarts Express. Louis had heard great things about Hagrid’s loyalty, his kind heartedness, and his bravery from his mother. Inside Hagrid’s hut, was only one room, with hams and pheasants hanging from the ceiling. At one end was a fireplace where a copper kettle was hung. In the corner stood a massive bed with a patchwork quilt over it. Hagrid served them his rock cakes which Louis regretted taking a bite into. They were literally rock hard just like the name suggested except they were hard on the inside too. Louis did enjoy the tea that Hagrid served though. Niall introduced the two to each other and they chatted for a while. Louis got on well with Hagrid. The best part, Louis thought, was that Hagrid could not pronounce Louis’ name as ‘Louie’ but instead said ‘Louay.’ Louis found it to be unique and special. When prompted with the idea of the boat ride to show Louis the full view of the castle, Hagrid’s eyes lit up and he immediately ushered them out of his cabin.

While they were making their way to the Black Lake, Louis spotted the white kitten once again. It seemed to be running around and tossing around in the grass that grew on the school grounds. Thinking that if anyone had the answer to why the tiny kitten was wandering around by itself it would be Hagrid.

“Don’t think its someone’s pet. Been seeing it ‘round the grounds everyday so its probably just a stray. Don’t worry bout it though, Louay. Nothings gunna hurt it here on the grounds. Meself, I’m allergic to cats but I’ll make sure it doesn’t get itself hurt.”

Relieved, Louis ran behind Hagrid to catch up with his large steps. Once they had reached the Black Lake, Hagrid directed Niall and Louis into one boat while Hagrid sat in his own larger boat. 

“Careful, now. Don’t want ya to tip the boat.” 

The two of them sat down in a small sized boat that had a lamp attached in the middle. It lit up and shone brightly enough that Louis could see Niall’s face. Niall and Louis weren’t cramped but they didn’t have much space to move around either. Instead of rowing the boat like normal muggles would do, the boat moved slowly by its own accord. It was enchanted to do that, Louis thought. Moving forward slowly, they sat in silence while looking out at the deep dark lake beneath them. Above them, the sky was a deep blue with stars littered everywhere. They shone brightly in the dark along with the full moon. Just then, they heard a hoarse howl like that of a baby wolf come from the direction of the Forbidden Forest. 

“Apparently, they are werewolves in the Forbidden Forest.”

“That’s just a rumour, Niall. Yer safe here, Louay. No one’s gonna harm you as long as yer with me.”

Once they were far enough, Louis looked up from the lake to a full view of Hogwarts. The wind blew slowly and yet it was chilly outside. Louis pulled on his Gryffindor sweater to make sweater paws as he took in the view. The castle was lit up by the yellow lights from inside the dorms, corridors, and hallways. Outside the castle, were small fire ornaments which brought life and significance to the huge establishment. Lit up by the little pieces of light, Hogwarts stood tall upon the huge half-submerged rocks that sat on the Black Lake. Each tower had multiple fire cones on their sides which showed off the height of the towers. Completely breath taken, Louis loved over at Niall and Hagrid who had similar awestruck expressions on their faces. Louis smiled happily as he took in the beauty of Hogwarts. He knew that soon enough he would call Hogwarts his home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please subscribe to this fic to get updates for when a new chapter is posted. I will be posting one chapter per week!
> 
> Also, comments and kudos would make me incredibly happy! Thank you for reading. :)


	4. Cursed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next week's chapter might be delayed by a little bit because I was sick and didn't get a chance to write. :)

A streak of sunlight peeked through a crack between one of the windows in the Gryffindor dorm and the scarlet curtains, when Louis awoke to his dorm mates murmuring between them.

“Lou, wake up. It’s your first official Quidditch match at Hogwarts!”

September had come and gone. Time had slipped by so quickly; Louis did not even notice how much his life had changed in a month. One moment he was in his new family home in London and in the next, a month had passed. Louis had settled into Hogwarts and into his new routine. He attended all his classes with rapt attention, doing most of his schoolwork within the deadline. Determined to keep his grades up, Louis had visited the library on numerous occasions. He had got accustomed to spending time in the library reading up on new spells or even learning new potions he could attempt to brew in his free time.

Classes had only got tougher, in Defence Against the Dark Arts, they had started studying Shield Charms and Dementors. Potions had moved on from the brewing of Poison Antidotes to brewing Polyjuice Potion. Herbology had them studying Venomous Tentacula and its properties. What Louis found amusing was that students were permitted to swear loudly if a Tentacula tried to strangle them during a lesson. Not having first-hand experience in that situation, Louis and his friends stared in horror as a sixth year Ravenclaw had to be rescued from the plant’s vines. Charms had the sixth-year students turning vinegar into wine which usually turned into water or pumpkin juice instead. The difficulty of the spell made it much harder for the students who already struggled with Charms spell work. Transfiguration had them casting the Bird Conjuring Charm, which Louis had a particularly tough time performing. Prof. McGonagall watched Louis like a hawk and Louis could not work well under pressure. When he practiced by himself in the common room though, he could conjure the most beautiful blue & green birds. He felt highly intimated by the teacher despite of wanting to impress her with his transfiguration capabilities.

In most of his free periods, Louis was busy completing his homework or revising for tests. In the meanwhile, his friendships with his new group grew stronger. He always had a great time with them without any feelings of being left out. He did not feel like an outsider in his friend group and he was happy that that was the case. What he liked best though, was that he had individual bonds with each one of them. He seemed to have a lot of quiet conversations with Claire in the early mornings or on lazy afternoons. She understood Louis’ thoughts and their conversations flowed freely even when Claire mentioned something unordinary. Louis felt that he had a bond with Claire and that even if he were to tell her his insecurities, instead of making him feel special, she would treat him like an ordinary person. Louis loved that about the curly haired girl. Claire let Louis take care of her cat, Luya, when Claire was busy. Louis always thought dogs to be his favourite because he had a hard time connecting with cats, but Louis had amusing playtimes with Luya. The ginger fluff refused to let him pet her but would without fail sit on or next to his feet when he was seated. Claire took that as a sign to trust Louis. She found it sweet, the way Louis behaved around her favourite creatures, the elves, and the cats. Claire was mostly shy but comforting to Louis in her own way. Their way of connecting was through soft words of affirmations. Louis knew that those type of words were something that always helped him through anything. Louis’ parents always whispered words of affirmations to Louis when he was down or going through a tough time. 

Niall and Louis got on like a house on fire. They were both quick witted and humorous. Wherever Louis and Niall went there was roaring laughter, out of key singing and water fights. Niall and Louis found each other hilarious. Along with Leah they pulled off some exquisite pranks on their friends and on their teachers outside of class. They understood each other through their actions and their energies. Louis thought Niall was an absolute goofball that loved to have fun and was always up for a good time. Niall was the type of person who had the kind of energy where he could make light out of any situation and brighten up everyone’s days. Niall declared his purpose in life to be able to protect his friends and family and fight off evil. Louis who could relate to that in his own way found that Niall’s interest and Louis’ interests were one and the same. Their friendship grew closer in a months’ time. Niall felt like he had to take care of Louis and had to make sure Louis always got what he wanted and needed. Louis felt that Niall was protecting him and guiding him all the way. Whenever Louis would find himself lost in the extensive hallways of Hogwarts, he would see a sweaty and worried Niall run up to him only minutes later to rescue him. Louis sometimes felt like he was being babied, but it only made Louis fonder of Niall. Louis knew that as long as he had Niall as a friend in his life, he would be alright.

Liam on the other hand though, Louis could not relate to. Liam was authoritative and responsible. Liam loved watching Niall and Louis get up to their pranks and outlandish discussions but never joined in. He was silent and mostly kept to himself. Louis had nothing against him, and Liam enjoyed Louis’ company. Louis got the feeling that Liam had not yet opened up to Louis or that he was keeping secrets. Louis hoped that it was the former. When he asked Niall about Liam, Niall simply gave a half smile and told him that Liam would share parts of himself with Louis when he was comfortable and when Liam could trust Louis. Feeling only slightly dejected, Louis understood. It had only been a month that they had been friends. Louis was sure that they would get on well together once Liam had opened up to Louis.

Leah and Louis had a bond which was different than that of the others. They insulted each other at every chance they got without fail. They teased each other relentlessly. Leah always told Louis he was tiny, and Louis always told Leah that she was so intimidating that all the other sixth years were afraid of her, which was true. Leah had a sarcastic tongue which made her come off as rude when people did not understand her tone of speaking. Her boldness and ability to call out people when they were doing something wrong made her stand out from the crowd. Louis enjoyed how knowledgeable she was of the wizarding world while being a muggleborn herself. They had many thought-provoking conversations between them. Leah was always a part of all the pranks Louis and Niall pulled and no matter what, she was up for causing some mischief, especially when it was deserved. What Louis loved about her was that she told him straight up what she was thinking. She never felt the need to sugar-coat things or lie, which Louis appreciated the most. The astonishing thing Louis noticed though was that Leah was very tender and affectionate when she was with her girlfriend – Florence. 

Florence was a fifth year Hufflepuff who was just as shy as Claire. She always wore flowers in her thick and wavy platinum blonde hair, usually flower crowns that Leah and she had spent time making together. Whenever she joined the group for picnics or lunch, Leah and Florence would always find a way to touch each other in the most subtle ways ever. Even something as small as linking their little fingers together, holding hands, laying their head on the others lap, touching each other’s shoulders, holding each other in their arms would make them blush a subtle shade of pink. They were a cuddly and affectionate couple who always made each other feel at ease. Florence would glace at Leah with her amber eyes ever so often just to catch Leah stealing glances of her. They would argue a lot but in a way of whispering debate over the correct way to say ‘pecan’, rather than screaming at each other over jealously or petty fights. Just as much as Leah was bold and outspoken, Florence was quiet and kept her thoughts to her own. She did express her views in conversations with the group though. They could all tell she was beginning to get comfortable with Louis over their shared hatred of healthy foods. Louis admired the relationship Leah and Florence had. He hoped that one day, he too would have a relationship just as soft and affectionate.

While some evenings were spent hanging out with his new group, most of them were filled with Quidditch practice sessions that were held for the Gryffindor team. Niall discussed strategies and made the team run through each move about a hundred times. He gave Louis a book on strategies used by previously famous Seekers and Louis read and practiced them by himself. The team practiced almost every time they got the chance to. Usually set on the first weekend after Halloween, the first Quidditch match of the season was preponed due to the forecast of heavy snowfall and wild snowstorms in beginning of November. The match was rescheduled to be held on the second weekend of October. That only meant that the Gryffindor team was practicing harder and regularly to put up a good fight in the first match of the season. Louis was terrified to think how the match would play out because he did not under any circumstances want to disappoint his teammates or his House. He went through countless books in the library, looking for any moves or strategies he could use on the important game day. He had practiced along with the whole team a couple of times, but Louis mainly practiced by himself to try and perform moves and catch the golden Snitch. He had never paid much attention to how the Quidditch players played at Beauxbatons, but he knew the gist about how the wizarding sport was supposed to be played. 

At Louis’ country house where houses were at a long distance away from each other, Louis practised flying every now and then. There were acres and acres of empty grassland above which he could fly without being seen. He liked the feeling of flying but he had never felt attracted to try out for a position on his House team at Beauxbatons. Once he became part of the Gryffindor quidditch team though, he paid closer attention to how the game was played and what each player was doing. He slowly figured out the intricacies of the game and how it was to be played.

There are three goal posts or hoops at either ends of a field called the Quidditch pitch. There are seven players on each team and on each side: the Keeper, the Seeker, three Chasers and two Beaters. All the players are on their brooms flying around the pitch, doing their own job. 

The Keeper, Nao, was supposed to guard the three goalposts at the Gryffindor side to stop the other teams’ Chasers from scoring goals. She made sure that the Quaffle never went through the Gryffindor teams’ hoops. The Keeper would generally wear a lot of protective gear to ensure that they would not get fatally injured. Nao donned a helmet, shoulder pads and knee pads along with gloves. Nao had exceptional defensive skills and was extremely quick. Her well-built frame made it hard for the rest to score a goal.

The Seeker, Louis, was supposed to stay at a distance from the other players and look for the tiny golden fluttering ball called the Snitch. Catching the Snitch would give a team 150 points which usually is the deciding factor of which team won the game. Once the golden flying ball was caught, the game would end and the team with the most points won. Seekers are generally the smallest and lightest players on a team which enabled them to zoom around at a faster speed to catch the shining ball. The Snitch would show up and disappear whenever it wanted to. Louis would often gush through the wind to reach out to the Snitch which would slip right out of his fingers. He kept practising though and he was getting better and faster day by day.

The three Chasers : Niall, Willow and Dahlia are the players who must make sure they score enough goals before the golden Snitch is caught. At the beginning of the game the Referee releases the Quaffle, an immobile ball approximately the size of a football, into the air for the Chasers to try and claim possession of. Once in the possession of one of the three Chasers, they must carry and pass the Quaffle to their opponent's goal hoops and try to score by throwing the Quaffle through one of the three ring hoops. Each time it passes through any one of the hoops, the scoring team gains 10 points. Niall, Willow and Dahlia were well rehearsed and in tune with each other. They worked well together and could come up with exhilarating last-minute strategies on their own. 

The two Beaters : Leah and Liam are supposed to ensure that the Bludgers, two black iron balls, are kept away from their team and at the same time try and aim the Bludgers towards the opposite team. There are two Bludgers used in every match, which are bewitched to fly around and to try and knock the players off their broomsticks. The Beaters are the only players on the pitch who have bats. The Beaters use these bats to hit Bludgers away from their own team members and at the same time aim them towards the opposing players. The bats are magically reinforced to give the Beaters greater strength. Beaters need to be well-built and have considerable physical strength in their arms since they are charged with hitting the Bludgers throughout the whole match. Liam and Leah were both immensely strong and well-built. The two of them would often work out in the early mornings and then practice Quidditch with the rest of the team in the afternoons or evenings. 

Each person played an important and integral part of the team and it was necessary for all of them to practice together. Louis enjoyed the team practices even though he was intimidated by the game. As the first match of the season came closer, the Gryffindor team practiced harder and ran through more and more drills every single day. They discussed strategies and planned them out according to their team Captain’s advice. The Captain of their team, Niall, was not as worried as the rest but instead was confident that they would put up a good fight against the opposing team for the first match – the Slytherins. 

Infuriatingly, the Slytherin team Captain was none other than Styles. Along with him, on his team, were Malik, Kapoor, Harris, Thomas, and two of Florence’s friends - Felicity and Margaret. The tension between all of them was high not only because the houses were supposed to play against each other but also because of their growing rivalry. The other players knew of the rivalry but did not pay heed to it, they only wanted to compete in a fair match of Quidditch. As the month passed, the animosity between the two friend groups increased. Defence Against the Dark Arts classes and Potions classes were spent arguing and pranking the Slytherins instead of focusing on the subject. Louis tried his best to not let any of the professors see what he was up to behind their back. In the hallways, the Slytherins tried to pick fights with Louis and his friends. On one instance, they even planned a midnight duel that never happened. The insults between the two groups only got worse. Most times Louis and Niall had to hold Liam back from throwing punches at the Slytherins. Leah got involved too. She would spit out the worst insults and aggravate the Indian girl, Kapoor from Slytherin. Claire usually stayed silent but stood with her wand out as if to say that if she had to, she would protect and fight for her friends. Kapoor, Harris, Malik, and Styles were the same. Harris always had one hand on his wand as he watched silently while Styles, Malik and Kapoor argued and tried to jinx the Gryffindors.

On one instance, Louis used the Levicorpus spell on Styles which made him hang upside down from his ankle as if an invisible giant were holding him up. Styles screamed as his friends tried to get him down but to no avail. A teacher had to help Styles by casting the right spell, which earned Louis a detention from the Slytherin Head of House, Prof. Norton. The month flew by as the groups from the two houses threw jinxes at each other when arguments got out of hand. Most times than not, Louis and Leah ended up in detention. The same applied for Styles and Malik who would be in detention at least twice every week. In the last incident, Styles had shot a Stickfast Hex at Louis which trapped Louis in his place as if his shoes were stuck to the ground. Winning this Quidditch match would be the perfect strategy to get revenge from Styles, Louis had thought. He knew Styles cared a great deal about his team because he was Quidditch Captain of the Slytherin team. Louis thought that it would be a perfect slap in the face if the Gryffindors won against the Slytherins. 

A stuffed pillow hit Louis’ back as he nodded back to sleep. 

“Oi! Get up, mate,” Niall said as he kneeled down next to his bed to put on his shoes and Quidditch gear. Louis was used to sleeping in on Saturdays, but sadly he had to wake up in the early hours of the morning because of the first Quidditch match of the season. 

After getting ready, Louis and Niall headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast where they met the rest of the team. They were supposed to eat well and not play the match on an empty stomach as per Niall’s instructions. Louis ate scrambled eggs with toast and bacon. He chewed nervously and slowly. It was his first Quidditch match and his team was depending on him to catch the Snitch. He knew that he was not playing just to have revenge on Styles, but he was instead doing it to prove to himself that he was actually good at Quidditch. Across the Great Hall, Louis spotted Styles and Malik with their heads down whispering to each other. Malik looked tired and had bags under his eyes as if he hadn’t slept for three days. Louis thought that it strange but decided to ignore it. He received a tight hug from Claire to wish him luck for his first match. Jarvis and Caleb told him that if Gryffindor won, they would buy the whole team drinks at the Hogsmeade trip the next day. 

The Gryffindor team walked together out of the Entrance Hall and onto the extensive school grounds. While they made their way to the Quidditch pitch, Niall gave them a short pep talk which lifted their spirits and gave them hope. The team had donned on their protective gear and their Quidditch robes which were a bright shade of scarlet and gold. They entered the Quidditch arena and Louis had to physically stop himself from gasping. Much different than the usual empty stands and empty pitch, every second stand was decorated with the colours of Gryffindor House, and every other stand with the colours of the Slytherin House. Spectators consisting of all the teachers and students present at Hogwarts were sitting in between these stands and on them. On the pitch, Madam Hooch, the flying instructor and Quidditch referee, asked both the teams to get into position while she made her way towards the brown trunk. 

“Hello and welcome to the first Quidditch game of the season. Today’s game – Slytherin versus Gryffindor!” The Quidditch commentator, Irene Jordan from Ravenclaw was a sixth year. She sat alongside Prof. McGonagall as she commentated the match. The huge crowds erupted into a cheer and started chanting their team of preference. Louis had chills because of the cold October weather. He was getting exceedingly nervous and was feeling doubtful of his skills. There were way too many spectators and Louis was beginning to feel like he was going to make a fool out of himself. He vowed to himself that he would resign from his position if he failed to catch the golden Snitch.

Madam Hooch put on her protective goggles which hid her piercing, yellow, hawk-like eyes and got onto her broom. Niall and Styles shook hands and Madam Hooch asserted that she wanted a nice clean game out of the two teams. Nodding, all the players got into position on their brooms. Above all the players were Louis and Kapoor, the two Seekers. Madam Hooch let out the Bludgers and the Snitch into the air and they buzzed above them. She then threw the Quaffle and blew her whistle to commence the game between the two teams.

“The players get into position as Madam Hooch releases the Bludgers and the Snitch. She now has thrown the Quaffle into the air. The game begins!” 

***

About forty minutes into the game, Louis was beginning to lose hope. Slytherin had scored 180 points while Gryffindor was severely lacking with only 60 points. Louis knew that if he caught the golden Snitch in the next few minutes, Gryffindor would win the game. The only problem being that the Snitch refused to be found or to even show up. Louis flew circles around the pitch but could not even see a slight hint of the golden fluttering’s of the Snitch. His team was beginning to get tired and were starting to slack. Louis almost got hit by a Bludger while he was deep in thought but swerved to the right to avoid it. 

Louis was peering through his eyes against the sunlight as he tried to spot Kapoor. She had not been able to see the Snitch either, Louis could tell from her expression. Louis flew higher to look from above to see if he could spot it.

“Ezekiel Thomas of Slytherin has just passed the Quaffle to Felicity Fernsby who’s flying towards the hoops and- ANOTHER POINT FOR SLYTHERIN! The Slytherins are ahead from the Gryffindors by a 190 – 60!”

The Slytherins cheered louder as the Gryffindors groaned and booed the Slytherins. 

Louis flew higher and parallel along Kapoor as the rest of the game continued. Louis thought he saw something shiny near Harris, but it was just a trick of the sunlight. Louis dived to avoid being hit by the Bludger that Styles had sent flying rapidly towards him.

“Zayn Malik from Slytherin, a dashing young lad looking extremely tired to-,” cut off Irene Jordan as Prof. McGonagall told her off for straying off the commenting of the game. The students in the stands burst out laughing and Irene turned a shade of pink. The next moment, her focus shifted back to the game.

“Malik speeds away from a Bludger aimed by Liam Payne. He’s close to the Gryffindor hoops and .. Malik scores another goal which brings the Slytherins up to 200 points while the Gryffindors are still at 60.”

Louis wondered why the Gryffindors were not scoring more goals. The Slytherin Keeper, Margaret Sallon was kicking off the Quaffle the moment it came close to any of the hoops.

“Willow Slora, a Gryffindor, has passed the Quaffle to Dahlia Edevane of Gryffindor, SNATCHED by Ezekiel Thomas. He turns towards the Gryffindor hoops and he SCORES! Slytherin are at 210 points! Even if Louis Tomlinson the cute new Gryffindor Seeker were to catch the Snitch, it would not be enough. The Slytherins have way more p-”

Louis’ focus changed as he drowned out the commentating done by Irene. He had just spotted the golden Snitch just hovering near where Niall was flying. He sped towards Niall who looked at Louis in shock and mouthed, “Buy us more time. Don’t catch the Snitch yet.”

His wide eyes gave Louis the right message as he began chasing the Snitch above the rest of his teammates. Kapoor was on his tail, coming in close to catch the zooming Snitch. Louis blocked her off and began pushing against her with his side. 

“Piss off, Tomlinson,” she spat. They pushed at each other’s side while racing towards the Snitch. Louis focused on listening to the commentating done by the Ravenclaw and flying at the same time. 

“There’s a cutthroat competition between the two Seekers as Louis Tomlinson tries to buy more time and Mihika Kapoor tries to finish the match. Willow is speeding up with the Quaffle, snatched by Zayn Malik. Bludger hit by Harris is flying towards Horan but Leah Kyung, one of the Beaters of Gryffindor smacks it towards the Slytherins. The Quaffle is snatched once again by Dahlia Edevane passed to Niall Horan and.. HE SCORES! 70 points to Gryffindor! If Tomlinson catches the Snitch now, they will win by just 10 points,” announced Irene.

Louis knew that now was the time. He pushed Kapoor off him and sped his Firebolt Supreme towards the Snitch. Seconds later Kapoor had caught up to him. The Snitch was an arm’s length away from them. Louis stretched out his hand as if to grab it. He was falling short, so he sped up even more and his fingers grazed the buzzing golden Snitch and Kapoor immediately came up next to him and shot him a nasty smile. Out of nowhere a Bludger came at him full speed and knocked his hand. Pain was all Louis could feel as the crowds gasped worriedly. Louis was sure he had broken his hand. Ignoring the pain as much as he could, he stretched out his other hand and sped up. He grasped onto the Snitch and waved it in the air, but immediately regretted it. He had lost his balance.

“Louis Tomlinson has caught the Snitch! Gryffindor wins the first match of the season by 10 points. Total scores are Gryffindor with 210 and Slytherin with 200. Well played, everyone!”

Louis did not even realise that he was falling until he slammed into the ground with a huge thud. The next moment, the rest of his team was by his side sharing worried glances and telling Louis that he would be okay. The Hogwarts nurse and matron Madam Pomfrey came through the crowd and examined his hand and his injuries from falling. She was woman of medium height and had a mix of silver and black hair. She was plump with rosy cheeks. She was probably as old as or younger than Prof. McGonagall, Louis thought. Madam Pomfrey was exceptionally kind, but even more so strict. Leah had told Louis that Madam Pomfrey never asked questions about how her patients received their ailments or questioned the sometimes-ludicrous stories they told her, but instead immediately set to fixing them up. After doing some basic spells to make sure the fall had no severe effects, she set to fixing up Louis’ bone. He was whimpering to keep from screaming in pain.

“Brackium Emendo,” she said as she moved her wand over Louis’ arm. The bone went back to normal. She handed Louis two Pain-Relieving Potions which he immediately gulped. Seconds after he had drained them, the pain stopped, and Louis felt like he was back to his normal self. After getting off the ground, his friends and his teammates did a victory lap of the Quidditch field on their brooms. They watched as the Slytherin team walked off in shame. Styles looked pissed off at his team and at the Gryffindors. He flipped off Louis and Niall when they turned to look at him and laughed at how infuriated Styles looked.

Louis could not believe that he had caught the golden Snitch. He was sure it would have slipped from his hands and Kapoor would have caught it right before Louis got the chance to. But Louis had caught it. He had not let his team down. Or the rest of the Gryffindors. Louis was incredibly happy and could not stop smiling. Niall, Liam, Leah, and Claire were so proud of him that they kept hugging him and congratulating him on the win. 

Louis and his friends spent the rest of the Saturday celebrating their victory and planning the Hogsmeade trip that was scheduled to take place the next day. That night in the common room, they had all brought the feast up and were eating while music from the 90’s played in the background. The older students were drinking and dancing at the centre of the common room. They even crowd surfed Louis to celebrate how brilliantly he had caught the Snitch. After a whole lot of anticipation, excitement, and nervousness, he had proved himself to everyone. Even Prof. McGonagall personally came up to him to congratulate him. A whole day of fun later, Louis finally got into bed late after midnight thinking about the Hogsmeade trip. He was extremely excited to explore the tiny village right outside of Hogwarts. He shut his eyes and immediately fell asleep to the image of him winning the Quidditch Cup at the end of the school year. 

***

Hogsmeade weekend trips were special trips that the students of Hogwarts could take on certain weekends to the tiny village of Hogsmeade. Only third year students and above could go, with the express permission of a parent or guardian. On occasion, the staff at Hogwarts also went into the village on Hogsmeade weekends. Unlike the students though, the staff was allowed to visit any time they wanted. Louis’ mother had signed his permission slip enthusiastically. She had told Louis about her time at Hogsmeade and all that she had done during her Hogsmeade trips. Thrilled to explore the village along with his friends, Louis got up earlier than usual that Sunday morning and got ready. From the dormitory windows overlooking the school grounds, Louis saw the first day of snow come alive. He wore a thick woollen sweater along with a pullover and a winter coat to protect him from the cold weather. He carried along with him a Gryffindor scarf that would keep him warm if the weather outside was harsh. He wore wool socks under his boots and contemplated wearing gloves. He decided against it. The pockets of his winter coat were warm enough. Louis was feeling particularly delicate to the cold weather in Scotland since he was used to the mild weather in France. 

As Louis had predicted, the weather outside was cold enough to make him shiver. It was snowing quite a bit. Though Louis was glad that it was not snowing heavily like the forecasted weather. He buttoned up his coat as he walked with his friends to Hogsmeade. Situated near the location of the train station used by the Hogwarts Express was Hogsmeade. Hogsmeade was a picturesque little village of cottages and shops. That Sunday, Hogsmeade looked like a Christmas card; the little thatched cottages and shops were all covered in a layer of crisp snow. There were holly wreaths on the doors of each shop and strings of enchanted candles hanging in the trees. Even though Christmas was a few months away, the little village looked ready for the celebrations. Louis found that the whole atmosphere of Scotland gave him a Christmas vibe. Usually, students frequented the High Street in the village which contained the speciality shops and pubs that the village was famous for. Otherwise, the students wandered on to observe the infamous Shrieking Shack. 

Upon Louis’ request the first shop that his friend group visited on the High Street was Zonko’s Joke Shop. It was a shop filled with tricks and jokes of all kinds for the students who loved pranks. Some of the products that Louis bought were Dungbombs; a magical stink bomb that gave off a putrid odour, Hiccoughing Sweets; a joke product that presumably induces a fit of hiccoughs when eaten, Sugar Quills; delicate, spun-sugar sweets made to resemble real quills which can be sucked on secretly by students in class, as doing so simply makes one look as if they are thinking of what to write next, and many more amusing prank items that Louis was planning on using.

Next, the group decided to go to The Three Broomsticks to have some drinks and chat along with their friends. Liam informed Louis that The Three Broomsticks is a popular inn and pub often frequented by the Hogwarts students on the Hogsmeade trips.

“It’s usually really crowded so we might have a tough time finding a spot to fit all of us,” Niall explained as they walked in the direction of the pub. 

When they reached, Leah pushed the door open to reveal the inn which was warm, crowded, and a bit smoky, but clean and welcoming. The group stepped inside and moved towards a halfway empty table that Claire spotted. As they walked towards the table, they passed the bar. A mirror behind the bar reflected the cosy atmosphere, and drinks such as Butterbeer and Firewhisky were being served in glasses and in foaming pewter tankards, as well as gillywater, Mulled Mead, red currant rum, and even cherry syrup and soda with ice and an umbrella. The owner, Madam Rosmerta, stood behind the bar taking their order from Niall as he pointed in the direction of their table. At the end of the inn, was their table which they were sharing with Irene; the commentator of the Quidditch match, and her friend Scarlett. 

“Is it alright if all of us sit with you?” Leah posed the question as the conversation between Irene and Scarlett came to an abrupt end. 

“Of course,” assured Irene. She smiled up warmly at them. She too, was bundled up in winter clothing just like Louis. Louis knew of her, but he had never spoken to her the way the rest of his friend group had.

“Hi. I’m Louis,” he said as he waved at her and sat across the table between Liam and Claire. 

“Oh yeah, you’re the new student from Beauxbatons! I thought I recognized the new Seeker.” Louis remembered how she had called him cute while commentating the match the previous day. She continued, “I’m Irene. I’m in Charms and Transfiguration classes with you lot. This is my friend – Scarlett. She’s a seventh year Hufflepuff.”

Scarlett said hello to everyone as they introduced themselves to her. She was a redhead and wore a bright yellow sweater and a black coat and a matching Hufflepuff beanie. At that moment, Madam Rosmerta came over with seven glasses filled with Butterbeer. Niall informed them that he had ordered two extra for Irene and Scarlett. 

“Butterbeer? Should’ve got some Firewhisky after the month I’ve had,” Scarlett said rolling her eyes. Seventh year was supposed to be the toughest school year at Hogwarts. Students were rumoured to drop out after a certain point because of their inability to cope with the workload.

“We can’t get it,” Niall whined. “Madam Rosmerta knows we’re underage. I’ve tried.”

At that Scarlett got up from her seat and shot a wink at the group as she made her way to the bar. She returned with two glasses of Firewhisky. 

“Be discreet or she’ll have us kicked out,” confided Scarlett. Louis quickly took four gulps of the Firewhisky before passing it down to Liam. Louis felt a burning sensation as it went down his throat. Liam refused the drink and passed it over to Leah who drank part of it and handed it to Niall. After the first glass was over, Scarlett passed another glass to Niall and Leah who very quickly became tipsy. They spent rest of the time in The Three Broomsticks talking about the rumours surrounding all the students they knew. They teased each other and had conversations about their different childhoods. After an hour had passed, they were talking about one of the incidents with Styles and bursting with laughter at the pranks they had pulled on the Slytherins. They continued by coming up with new ways to prank and annoy their nemesis with the products they had just bought from Zonko’s Joke Shop. They were planning to go buy sweets from Honeydukes after they had filled their stomach with the golden liquid. Jarvis and Caleb came around with more Butterbeer that they had bought to celebrate the Gryffindor team’s success. 

After a while Claire got up to go to her Gobstones Club meeting that was being held in one of the upstairs rooms of The Three Broomsticks when she suddenly gasped. Her eyes were wide as she tried to look for something in her coat pockets. 

“What’s wrong, Claire?” Louis thought something had gone missing.

“I-I-I can’t find my, my diary,” she whispered looking panicked. “It must have fallen out while I was taking out my gloves on the way to Hogsmeade.”

“It’s alright, it’s just a diary.” Liam tried to calm her down.

“No,” she said worriedly and looked over at Louis. He immediately knew that the diary was something personal to Claire. It either had confidential things written in it or it held some sort of important significance.

“My dad gave it to me,” she silently pleaded.

“Alright, don’t worry. I’ll go look for it and get it back here for you. I’ll find it. It’s probably fallen at the side of the road,” Louis assured her. He got up and wrapped his Gryffindor scarf around his neck.

“Should I come with you?” Leah proposed to Louis.

“Actually,” Claire started shyly. “Could-could you please come with me to the Club meeting?”

Leah understood that Claire was unsettled and would need someone to comfort her and take care of her if she began to panic. Leah at once agreed and held Claire’s hand to stop it from shaking. They went upstairs through the back door as Louis made his way out of The Three Broomsticks and onto the High Street.

The road to Hogsmeade was a bifurcation leading off the road to Hogwarts. It leads through the Forbidden Forest and numerous fields in the mountains surrounding Hogwarts Castle before it ended at Hogsmeade Village, where it becomes the High Street. To go back searching for Claire’s diary he had to follow the same route backwards till he found the diary. Louis walked down the marked path, through the snow and towards Hogwarts. He pulled his winter coat closer to his body when he felt the chill of the winter air. He walked on and on but to no avail, Claire’s diary was nowhere to be found. He knew exactly what he was looking for since he had already seen Claire scribble into her diary on countless occasions. Louis had a suspicion that Claire was into writing. Writing what though, he did not know. Claire seemed to keep that part of her to herself. Her diary was leatherbound and had some quotes written on the leather with permanent ink. 

Coming up on a slight turn, Louis spotted the diary wedged between the brown mud and a stone covered with the freshly fallen snow. If it were not for the leather, the diary would have been wet, he thought. While Louis walked forward towards the diary, he heard voices. He picked up the diary and put it inside his winter coat pocket and walked towards the voices.

A tall and lanky student stood screaming at another person. He kept repeating over and over, “I don’t have it.” He seemed to be begging to the other person to let him go. The other person or figure wore a black hooded cape and stood tall with their wand pointing towards the Hogwarts student. The figure had a mask covering their face. Louis knew that this was not normal.

“What’s going on here?” Louis yelled to make his presence known. He moved his hand slightly to pull his wand out of his pocket. 

Immediately, the student turned, and Louis was horrified. It was Styles. But something was wrong. His eyes were bloodshot, and he was crying as if he was being tortured. He kept twitching in his place. “Help me,” he whispered, and Louis understood instantly that something was horribly wrong. This was beyond schoolboy rivalries. Styles was being tortured. Louis needed to help. He should call a teacher, but everyone was so far away. He would have to fight the hooded figure by himself, Louis thought to himself. Louis pulled out his wand from his pants pocket and began to cast a spell. But before Louis could move his wrist to actually cast the spell, the hooded figure lifted their wand and cast a spell that burst out a bright purple light. Louis couldn’t keep his eyes open any longer and immediately felt weak. 

***

Louis awoke in a stiff bed. He promptly knew that this was not his bed in the Gryffindor dormitory. The smell was strange, like that of an office and a hospital. He couldn’t remember when exactly he had gone to sleep. Come to think of it, the last thing he remembered was Styles being tortured. And the hooded figure. Louis was beginning to panic. Was Styles dead? Was Louis dead? But how could that even be? His head was throbbing and he felt weak. He was surely alive. Maybe if he opened his eyes, he would have a clue about what was going on and where he was.

He opened his eyes to see that he was in the Hogwarts hospital wing. It was night outside. He could see the stars through the window next to him. He was not in his usual clothes anymore but in a hospital gown. He looked to his side and saw Styles. He looked like he was in a restless sleep. As if he was able to sense Louis staring at him, Styles opened his eyes. He at once sat up in bed when he realised where he was. Confusion was written on his face. He turned to take in his surroundings. The moment he spotted Louis, he looked like he was about to get out of the bed and punch Louis right in his face.

“What the bloody hell did you do? Why are we here?” Styles asked incredulously.

“Me?” Louis scoffed. “This is probably all your fault. You were the one being tort-”

Louis never got to finish because Prof. McGonagall walked into the hospital wing along with the matron, Madam Pomfrey. Just yesterday Louis had been healed from an injury with her help. He was embarrassed to be in the hospital wing. Why was he here though?

“Mr. Tomlinson, Mr. Styles, how are you feeling?” Prof. McGonagall inquired. The concern on her face showed that something grave had happened. She looked very disturbed and unhappy with the situation. 

“I-uh, my head and stomach are hurting. I feel like I might throw up. What- what happened professor? Did someone catch that man?”

Prof. McGonagall shared looks with Madam Pomfrey. She sighed. She looked nervous like she was going to say something that would make Louis and Styles wildly unhappy and throw a fit.

“Mr. Tomlinson’s friends found you both lying unconscious on the ground near the fields in the mountains. There was no sign of anyone else. They found Prof. Kirby and she brought you two back here with the help of Hagrid. Madam Pomfrey ran diagnostic tests on both of you. She checked your vitals and your heartbeat but you both seem fine. Apart from some minor sickness. The cause of that – well,” McGonagall clarified as she shed light on the situation. 

“You both have been Cursed,” Madam Pomfrey put it plainly. Louis felt like this was some sort of an elaborate joke. He felt fine. There was no way he was Cursed. Styles seemed to be on the same page as he huffed and informed, “I feel alright. With all due respect professor, I don’t think I’ve been Cursed.”

“That’s because you haven’t begun to feel all of its effects yet. This Dark curse works differently.”

“Is it bad? How bad is it? Will we be okay? Should we be worried? What Dark curse is it?” Louis was horrified and scared and he burst out with questions. He comprehended that Styles was feeling somewhat the same. Dark Curses were not a joke. They were usually used by Dark wizards, like the Death Eaters from the Second Wizarding War era. 

Madam Pomfrey shared uncertain looks with Prof. McGonagall. They knew that this situation was not going to end well. Something bad was coming and it was coming fast. Louis knew that something was up, something that they were not letting on. Madam Pomfrey looked nervous as she spoke.

“The Curse it-it, the two of you..”

Prof. McGonagall got the hint and laid the truth as plainly as possible in a levelled voice. 

“Mr. Styles, Mr. Tomlinson, the Dark Curse has Bonded you to each other.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please subscribe to this fic to get updates for when a new chapter is posted. I will be posting one chapter per week!
> 
> Also, comments and kudos would make me incredibly happy! Thank you for reading. :)
> 
> Update : I don't think I will be writing any more of this since writing has started feeling more like a chore than doing it just for fun. Thank you for reading so far, I really really appreciate it.   
> You can contact me @g0ldenfolklore on twitter and tumblr.


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